Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH
Volume 18, Issue 13, Pages -Publisher
MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph18136894
Keywords
anemia; obesity; maternal nutrition; nutritional inadequacy; pregnancy; lactation; children under five years; Syrian refugees; Lebanon
Funding
- Food Security Center from the University of Hohenheim, DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) program exceed
- DAAD
- German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
- Fiat Panis Foundation
- BCFN YES! 2017 Research Grant Award from the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition (BCFN) Foundation
- University Research Board at the American University of Beirut [103366]
- hosting Institute of Nutritional Sciences [140]
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The study assessed anemia and nutritional status among Syrian refugee mothers and children in Lebanon, finding high anemia rates in mothers and some nutritional deficiencies, as well as high anemia rates in children; higher proportions of lactating and pregnant mothers had nutritional inadequacy.
The objective was to assess the prevalence of anemia and nutritional status of mothers and children under five years among Syrian refugees in Lebanon and to identify nutritional deficiencies among pregnant, lactating, and non-pregnant non-lactating (NPNLM) mothers. A cross-sectional study was conducted among Syrian refugee mothers with children under five years in Greater Beirut, Lebanon (n = 433). Data on socio-economic status, maternal health, lifestyle characteristics, dietary intake, anthropometric measurements, and hemoglobin concentrations were collected. The prevalence of anemia was 21.7% among mothers and 30.5% among children. NPNLM with overweight/obesity and an at-risk waist circumference (WC) had 14.7-times and 10.9-times higher odds of anemia than mothers with normal WC and weight. Children of anemic mothers had 2.7-times and 4.4-times higher odds of total and mild anemia than those of non-anemic. Higher odds of mild anemia were found among children of lactating mothers than of NPNLM. A high percent energy intake of total fat and sugar was found among all mothers. Nutritional inadequacy was identified in higher proportions of lactating and pregnant mothers than NPNLM. Our findings highlighted the co-existence of overnutrition and anemia among Syrian refugee mothers and undernutrition among children from the same household. Culture-specific interventions are needed to support maternal nutrition, to ensure the health and wellbeing of their offspring.
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