Skip Navigation
Skip to contents

Epidemiol Health : Epidemiology and Health

OPEN ACCESS
SEARCH
Search

Author index

Page Path
HOME > Browse articles > Author index
Search
Dieta Nurrika 1 Article
Maternal pre-pregnancy anemia and childhood anemia in Indonesia: a risk assessment using a population-based prospective longitudinal study
Fadila Wirawan, Dieta Nurrika
Epidemiol Health. 2022;44:e2022100.   Published online November 1, 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2022100
  • 1,191 View
  • 132 Download
AbstractAbstract PDF
Abstract
OBJECTIVES
Anemia in children under 5 years of age is often overlooked despite its detrimental effects. The public health approach to anemia prevention includes the maternal pre-pregnancy phase. This study investigated the association between pre-pregnancy anemia and the risk of anemia in children under 5 years of age.
METHODS
This cohort study included non-pregnant women from the 2007 Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) and their children under 5 in the 2014 IFLS. The anemia status of mothers and children was determined based on hemoglobin (Hb) levels using Hemocue. Mantel-Haenszel adjusted relative risks (aRRs), including risk stratification by covariates, were used for the final risk assessment.
RESULTS
In total, 637 children in the 2014 IFLS were included. The risk of having a child with anemia was 1.71-fold higher in women with pre-pregnancy anemia than in women without pre-pregnancy anemia (aRR, 1.71; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03 to 2.85). After risk stratification based on potential confounding variables, maternal pre-pregnancy anemia remained an independent risk factor for anemia in children who still breastfed at the time of data collection (relative risk [RR], 2.11; 95% CI, 1.16 to 3.86), in children who were given water earlier than 6 months of age (RR, 2.08; 95% CI, 1.20 to 3.61), in children of mothers with a normal or underweight pre-pregnancy body mass index (RR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.20 to 3.14), and in children of mothers without current anemia (RR, 2.20; 95% CI, 1.21 to 3.99).
CONCLUSIONS
Pre-pregnancy anemia increased the risk of childhood anemia. A public health approach emphasizing pre-conception maternal health would enable better maternal and child morbidity risk prevention.
Summary
Korean summary
Key Message
Pre-pregnancy anemia increased the risk of childhood anemia by 1.7 times compared to without pre-pregnancy anemia, and increased when the child was still breastfed, given water before 6 months of age, and the mother had a normal or underweight pre-pregnancy BMI, regardless of the mother’s current no anemia status.

Epidemiol Health : Epidemiology and Health