Maternal pre-pregnancy anemia and childhood anemia in Indonesia: a risk assessment using a population-based prospective longitudinal study

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.

Automated summary

Pre-pregnancy anemia increased the risk of childhood anemia. Emphasizing a public health approach that focuses on pre-conception maternal health would enable better prevention of maternal and child morbidity risks.