Relation of Dietary Diversity with Anaemia Among 6-59 Months Aged Children in Burundi: A Secondary Data Analysis

Abstract

<i>Introduction</i>: Among the Sub-Saharan countries, Burundi has a much higher rate of anaemia in preschool going children. The aim of this paper is to find a relation of anaemia with dietary diversity of 6-59 months old children in Burundi. <i>Method</i>: A literature review was done using PubMed, Medline, Oxford journal database, and Google Scholar. A grey literature search was done using Google and Bing. The most recent Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data was used for analysis. <i>Results</i>: A total of 5469 children were included in the study. Among these 2218 (40.90%) were Not Anaemic, 1352 (24.93%) were Mild Anaemic, 1676 (30.91%) were Moderate Anaemic and, 177 (3.26%) were Severely Anaemic. The proportion of severely anaemic children is highest in 6-11 months age group and lowest in 18-23 months age group. Age has a significant effect on anaemia. The percentage of normal haemoglobin level (not anaemic) in blood is higher in female children. Children living in urban areas have improved haemoglobin levels. The model shows, every unit increase in dietary diversity will increase the possibility of a children to be in mild anaemic group than severe anaemic group by 1.26 times, to be in moderate anaemic group than severe anaemic group by 1.23 times and, to be in not anaemic group than severe anaemic group by 1.3 times. <i>Conclusion</i>: Higher dietary diversity is associated with improved blood haemoglobin level. In Burundi, 6-11 months aged children are highly susceptible to develop anaemia. This age is important as it is the weaning period. Special attention should be given to monitor proper weaning of children in Burundi.