Prevalence of Anemia and Its Associated Factors Among School Children in Mettu Town attending Public Primary schools, Southwest Ethiopia: A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Anemia is a worldwide public health problem, affecting more than half of school children in developing countries. In Ethiopia, despite studies conducted on the prevalence of anemia in school children elsewhere, no data is available about its distribution in Mettu town, Objective: So, this study was aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of anemia among school children attending public primary school in Mettu town, southwest, Ethiopia Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 317 school children between 7-14 years old from October 5 to November 30, 2021. Socio-demographic and socio-economic data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Venous blood was collected in EDTA and used for complete blood count and red blood cell morphology using the Advia®560 hematology system (Siemens Laboratories Diagnostics Division, Germany). intestinal parasites and malaria were examined. Data was entered into Epidata 4.6 and analysis was performed by SPSS version 23. A logistic regression model was built to identify factors associated with anemia. Variables with a p-value of 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Result: The overall prevalence of anemia was 33 (10.4%, 95%CI: 7.27%, 14.31%). There were 69.7% with mild anemia and 30.3% with moderate anemia.169 (53.3%) were female. The mean age of study participants was 11.1 (SD ±1.798). A mother with no formal education (AOR = 5.02; 95% CI: 1.75, 14.39); male gender (AOR = 3.15; 95% CI: 1.20, 8.28); low family income (AOR = 4.71; 95% CI: 1.75, 12.68); intestinal parasite infection (AOR = 4.48; 95% CI: 1.77, 11.37); and the habit of drinking coffee or tea with meals (AOR = 3.96; 95% CI: 1.55, 10.11) were factors contributing to increased anemia Conclusion: Anemia was found to be a mild public health problem in the study site. No formal maternal educational level, low family income, male gender, intestinal parasite infection, and the habit of regularly drinking coffee or tea with meals were found to contribute to increase the prevalence of anemia among school children. Recommendation: The Mettu Town Office should promote health education in the community. In addition to deforming, the regional health bureau, Mettu town health office, and local NGOs should raise awareness about tea or coffee drinking habits.