Abstract
Background Anaemia, a common nutritional deficiency, is a public health problem in the Mount Cameroon area. This study determined the prevalence and possible risk factors of microcytic and malarial anaemia in children less than ≤15 years residing in the Buea and Limbe municipalities in the Mount Cameroon area. Methods A total of 566 children were clinically examined in a cross-sectional study from December 2018 to August 2019 for anaemia and malaria parasites. Blood samples collected were used in evaluating full blood count with the aid of an automated haemoanalyser, and malaria parasite was confirmed by microscopy. Anaemia was defined based on WHO standards while microcytic anaemia and malarial anaemia were defined as microcytosis + anaemia and malaria + anaemia, respectively. Factors that showed significance in the bivariate analysis were entered into a multinomial logistic regression to determine risk factors for microcytic and malarial anaemia. Results The overall prevalence for anaemia, microcytosis, microcytic anaemia, and malarial anaemia was, respectively, 68.7%, 48.9%, 36.9%, and 19.6% with microcytic anaemia representing 53.7% of all anaemic cases. Risk factors for microcytic anaemia included child age of 1–5 years (P=0.007), forest ethnicity (P=0.019), parents being farmers (P=0.038) or jobless (P=0.009), and having moderate malaria parasitaemia (P=0.048) while those for malarial anaemia were child age of 6–10 years (P=0.008), parents' age of 26–35 years (P=0.049), parents being jobless (P=0.023), and consuming plantains 3-4 times (P=0.024) a week. Conclusion Microcytic anaemia is getting to be a severe public health concern while malarial anaemia is a mild public health issue in children residing in urban areas of Mount Cameroon. Parents' occupation was directly linked to all anaemia forms; hence, any intervention to curb anaemia should consider aspects that will raise the socioeconomic status of the population.
Highlights
Anaemia is still a public health problem in developing countries [1] across all age groups [2]
While malarial anaemia occurred in 19.6% of the study population, children aged 6–10 years (24.1%), those living at low altitude (23.9%), those whose parents were 26–35 years old (21.6%), and those who were feverish (28.7%) and were malaria parasite positive (68.8%) had significantly higher prevalence than their respective peers (Table 3)
With anaemia prevalence still well above the cut-off value of 40%, it is important to reevaluate childhood determinants that foster its presence and revisit the implementation strategies that have so far been put in place
Summary
Anaemia is still a public health problem in developing countries [1] across all age groups [2]. In Cameroon, as in the Mount Cameroon area, anaemia is still a severe public health problem. A common nutritional deficiency, is a public health problem in the Mount Cameroon area. Is study determined the prevalence and possible risk factors of microcytic and malarial anaemia in children less than ≤15 years residing in the Buea and Limbe municipalities in the Mount Cameroon area. Risk factors for microcytic anaemia included child age of 1–5 years (P 0.007), forest ethnicity (P 0.019), parents being farmers (P 0.038) or jobless (P 0.009), and having moderate malaria parasitaemia (P 0.048) while those for malarial anaemia were child age of 6–10 years (P 0.008), parents’ age of 26–35 years (P 0.049), parents being jobless (P 0.023), and consuming plantains 3-4 times (P 0.024) a week. Microcytic anaemia is getting to be a severe public health concern while malarial anaemia is a mild public health issue in children residing in urban areas of Mount Cameroon. Parents’ occupation was directly linked to all anaemia forms; any intervention to curb anaemia should consider aspects that will raise the socioeconomic status of the population
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
