Premium
Determinants of iron‐deficient anemia among food insecure Brazilian infants
Author(s) -
Lemos Thaisa,
Vitolo Marcia Regina,
Hoffman Daniel J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.27.1_supplement.369.6
Subject(s) - breastfeeding , medicine , odds ratio , confidence interval , christian ministry , anemia , pediatrics , demography , iron deficiency anemia , environmental health , philosophy , theology , sociology
Iron‐deficient anemia (IDA) is still considered a public health problem in developing countries. Brazil's latest national data estimated that IDA affected 21% of children under 5 years of age. We investigated whether the prevalence of IDA (defined as hemoglobin < 11g/dL) and its determinants would differ between food secure (FS) and insecure (FI) infants. From the 284 infants, 53.5% were FS and 61.6% had IDA. There were no statistical differences in prevalence of IDA between FI and FS infants, although FI infants had lower mean Hb level. After controlling for confounders, maternal age (odds ratio [OR] = .917, 95% Confidence Interval [CI] = .857‐.981) and BMI (OR = .384, 95%CI = .166‐.888) were negatively associated with IDA at 12 months, while household size (OR = 1.481, 95%CI = 1.040–2.109) and introduction of soda before 10 months (OR = 2.377, 95%CI = 1.041–5.428) were positive predictors for FS infants. For FI children, only the cluster “good practices” (solid food after 4 months, breastfeeding for 6+ months, lipid and sugar dense food after 12 months) remained significant (OR = 2.68, 95%CI = 1.061–6.772). In conclusion, among low‐income FS or FI infants, there is no statistical difference in the prevalence of IDA, although determinants are different between the two food security levels. Funding was provided by the Brazil National Funding for Research and Capes Foundation of the Brazilian Ministry of Education.