Abstract:
Background: Anemia affects a significant part of the population in nearly every country in the
globe. In developing countries, approximately one of every two children aged under 24 months
are suffering. Iron requirements are greatest at ages 6-11 months, when growth is extremely rapid
and critically essential in critical times of life. Iron requirements are greatest at ages 6-11 months,
when growth is extremely rapid and critically essential in critical times of life. Even though infants
and toddlers (6–12 and 13–24 months of age) are highly at risk, they are not considered as separate
populations in estimation of anemia. Despite this, a couple of activities done by the government,
showed that prevalence of anemia among children under 24 months of age is still at its highest
point of severity to be a public health problem in Ethiopia. There is no study that documented the
magnitude of the problem and associated factors in the study area.
Objective: The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of anemia and identify
associated factors among children aged 6-23 months.
Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was carried out among 485 children of Damot
Sore District of Wolaita Zone from March to April 2017. Data on socio-demographic, dietary,
blood samples for hemoglobin level and malaria infection were collected. Both descriptive and
bivariate analyses were done and all variables having a p-value of less than 0.25 were selected for
multivariable analyses. Multivariable logistic regression model was used to isolate independent
predictors of anemia at p-value less than 0.05. Principal component Analyses (PCA) were used to
generate household wealth score, dietary diversity score and breast feeding practice.
Results: - Out of 522 sample selected for the study, 485 underwent all the study components giving
a response rate of 92.91%. Altitude and smoking adjusted prevalence of anemia was 255(52.6%).
Larger proportion, 128(26.4%) of the children had moderate anemia. In multivariable analysis,
food insecurity (AOR=2.74(95% CI: 1.62-4.65)), poor dietary diversity (AOR = 2.86 (95% CI:
1.73–4.7)), early or late initiation of complementary feeding (AOR=2.0( 95%CI: 1.23-3.60)), and
poor practice of breast feeding (AOR=2.6(95% CI: 1.41-4.62)), and poor utilization of folic acid
(AOR=2.75(95% CI: 1.42-5.36)) were significantly associated with anemia.
Conclusion and recommendation: Prevalence of anemia among children 6–23 months was
severe public health concern in the study area. Most important predictors are suboptimal child
feeding practices, food insecurity and poor diet. Multi-sectoral effo
