P0297 / #1851: PREVALENCE OF ANEMIA IN INFANTS UNDER 6 MONTHS OF AGE IN RURAL CHINA

Abstract

Aims & Objectives: Childhood anemia has been linked to low cognitive scores and developmental delay. Anemia is highly prevalent in rural Chinese children but information on infants younger than 6 months is lacking. The goal of this cross-sectional study was to measure the mean hemoglobin levels of infants under 6 months in rural Sichuan, compare them to published age-matched standards, describe factors associated with anemia, and investigate whether anemia was correlated with health symptom reporting and health-seeking behavior. Methods: A survey of health and feeding practices was conducted in 80 randomly selected rural townships in Nanchong prefecture, Sichuan province. All infants under 6 months living within 1 hour drive of the township center were surveyed (N=938). Hemoglobin was measured in 586 infants and adjusted for altitude. The China Clinical Pediatrics threshold for infants 0-3 months old of 90g/L and 4-6 months of 100g/L was used to define anemia. Results:The prevalence of anemia was 12.6% for 0-3-month-old infants and 27.4% for 4-6-month-old infants. Factors significantly associated with anemia included older age of infant, lower birth weight, formula feeding, and mother’s poor overall health status, but not male sex, household income, or mother’s educational attainment. Caregivers of infants with anemia reported bringing the infant for healthcare visits more frequently than those of non-anemic infants. Conclusions: Anemia is prevalent in rural Chinese infants and is associated with some but not all of the characteristics often predictive of anemia. In addition, anemia in infants may predispose to increased health care utilization.