Abstract:
Background: Despite the public health significance of anaemia in African children, its broader and often preventable
risk factors remain largely under described. This study investigated, for the first time, the prevalence of childhood
anaemia and its risk factors in an urban setting in Uganda.
Methods: A total of 342 children were enrolled. Venous blood samples were collected in EDTA tubes and analyzed using
Symex 500i (Symex Corp. Japan). Stool and urine samples were analyzed according to established standard methods.
Anthropometric indicators were calculated according to the CDC/WHO 1978 references. Ethical approval was granted.
Results: Categorically, the prevalence of anaemia was; 37.2, 33.3 and 11.8% among children aged 1–5 years, 6–11 years
and 12–14 years respectively. Overall anaemia prevalence was 34.4%. The risk of anaemia was higher among males than
females [(OR = 1.3, 95% CI = 0.8, 2.1), P = .22]. Malaria was associated with a 1.5 times risk of anaemia though not
statistically significant in the multivariate analysis (P = .19). Maternal parity <5 (P = .002), and stunting [(OR = 2.5, 95%
CI = 1.3, 4.7), P = .004] were positively associated with anaemia. There was a positive correlation between household size
and income (Pearson X2 = 22.96; P = .001), implying that large families were of higher socioeconomic status.
Conclusions: This study demonstrates that anaemia is more prevalent in the under-5 age. The risk factors are stunting
and low maternal parity. Interventions that address nutritional deficiencies in both pre-school and school children are
recommended. Malaria and helminthiasis control measures counter the risk of anaemia. Further studies are required to
investigate the association between maternal parity and anaemia found in this study.
