Underlying Factors Associated with Anemia in Amazonian Children: A Population-Based, Cross-Sectional Study

作者：Marly Augusto Cardoso, Kézia Katiani Gorza Scopel, Pascoal Torres Muniz, Eduardo Villamor, Marcelo U. Ferreira · 发表于：PLoS ONE · 年份：2012 · DOI：10.1371/journal.pone.0036341 · 被引用次数：160 · 研究领域：Iron Metabolism and Disorders、Child Nutrition and Water Access、Hemoglobinopathies and Related Disorders

BACKGROUND: Although iron deficiency is considered to be the main cause of anemia in children worldwide, other contributors to childhood anemia remain little studied in developing countries. We estimated the relative contributions of different factors to anemia in a population-based, cross-sectional survey. METHODOLOGY: We obtained venous blood samples from 1111 children aged 6 months to 10 years living in the frontier town of Acrelândia, northwest Brazil, to estimate the prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency by measuring hemoglobin, erythrocyte indices, ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor, and C-reactive protein concentrations. Children were simultaneously screened for vitamin A, vitamin B(12), and folate deficiencies; intestinal parasite infections; glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency; and sickle cell trait carriage. Multiple Poisson regression and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) were used to describe associations between anemia and the independent variables. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The prevalence of anemia, iron deficiency, and iron-deficiency anemia were 13.6%, 45.4%, and 10.3%, respectively. Children whose families were in the highest income quartile, compared with the lowest, had a lower risk of anemia (aPR, 0.60; 95%CI, 0.37-0.98). Child age (<24 months, 2.90; 2.01-4.20) and maternal parity (>2 pregnancies, 2.01; 1.40-2.87) were positively associated with anemia. Other associated correlates were iron deficiency (2.1; 1.4-3.0), vitamin B(12) (1.4; 1.0-2.2), ...