Research ArticleOpen Access

Maternal Anemia and its Impact on Nutritional Status of Children Under the Age of Two Years

Volume 5 - Issue 3

**Aisha Iftikhar¹*, Attia Bari², Fatima Zeeshan³, Uzma Jabeen⁴, Qaisar Masood⁵ and Ahsan Waheed Rathore⁶**

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- ^1-4,6Department of Pediatric Medicine, The Children’s Hospital and The Institute of Child Health, Pakistan
- ⁵Consultant Pediatrician, Nawaz Sharif Social Security Hospital, Pakistan
*Corresponding author: Aisha Iftikhar, 342 Kareem Block, Allama Iqbal Town Lahore, Pakistan

Received: May 28, 2018; Published: June 11, 2018

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2018.05.001197

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Abstract

Objective: To assess the frequency of anemia in mothers accompanying children admitted in General Medical Ward of The Children’s Hospital Lahore and to determine its association with the growth parameters of their children under two years of age.

Methodology: Total 228 children admitted in General Medical Ward with acute illness along with their mothers were included in the study. Blood sample of their mothers for Hb level was taken. Height and weight of children were plotted on WHO Growth Charts. Anemia was defined according to World Health Organization (WHO) as hemoglobin level of lt&;12 g/dL in non-pregnant women. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.

Results: Out of 228 patients 147 (64.5%) were males. The mean age of children was 8.7 ± 6.6 months. Mean maternal age was 26 ± 5.3 years. Anemia was present in 154 (67.5 %) mothers. Mean maternal Hb was 10.6 ± 1.6 gm/dl. Forty-nine percent children were severely underweight (Z score <-3) and 37 (16.2%) were falling on median. Severely stunted children were 92 (40.4%) (Z score <-3) while 43 (18.9%) were at median. Low weight for age and Length/Height for age of children was significantly associated with maternal anemia (p= 0.017), (p=0.05) respectively. Other maternal factors affecting the child’s nutritional status and growth parameters were multi-parity, general maternal health and education level with p value of 0.005, 0.01 and 0.04 respectively.

Conclusion: Maternal anemia has a significant effect on nutritional status of young children leading to stunting and underweight. Associated maternal factors were maternal education, multi-parity and poor maternal health.

Keywords: Maternal anemia; Stunted children; Underweight children