Anemia prevalence, severity and associated factors among children aged 6–71 months in rural Hunan Province, China: a community-based cross-sectional study

Background In recent 10 years, with the rapid socioeconomic development and the extensive implementation of children nutrition improvement projects, the previous epidemiological data cannot reflect the actual level of anemia among children in China, especially in rural areas. Therefore, this study analyzed the prevalence, severity and associated factors of anemia among children aged 6–71 months in rural Hunan Province. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted. Through multistage stratified cluster sampling, 5229 children aged 6 to 71 months and their caregivers were randomly selected from 72 villages across 24 towns in 12 counties from rural Hunan. The demographic characteristics of children and their caregivers, feeding practice, nutritional status of children, caregivers’ anemia-related feeding knowledge, and gestational conditions of mothers were acquired by using a unified questionnaire. Peripheral blood from the left-hand middle fingertip was sampled from each child, and hemoglobin concentration was measured using a HemoCue301 portable hemoglobin analyzer (Sweden). Associated factors analyses involving overall anemia and anemia severities were conducted on multivariate logistic regression models. Results The overall anemia prevalence was 8.8%, and the prevalence of mild, moderate and severe anemia was 6.3, 2.5 and 0.1%, respectively. Children age groups of 6–11 months, 12–23 months and 36–47 months, exclusive breast-feeding within 6 months after birth, and maternal moderate/severe anemia were significantly associated with an increased risk of overall anemia in children. Children age groups of 6–11 months and 12–23 months were significantly associated with an increased risk of mild anemia in children. Children age groups of 6–11 months, 12–23 months and 36–47 months, low caregivers’ anemia-related feeding knowledge level, and maternal moderate/severe anemia were significantly associated with an increased risk of moderate/severe anemia in children. Children who underwent regular physical examination were less likely to have moderate/severe anemia. The common protective factor for overall, mild and moderate/severe anemia in children was high family income. Conclusions The anemia status of preschool children in rural Hunan Province was a mild public health problem and associated with children age group, feeding practice, regular physical examination, family income, caregivers’ anemia-related feeding knowledge level, and maternal moderate/severe anemia.