3 children out of 5 suffer from anaemia
At least three out of each five children under two years of age suffer from anaemia, a blood condition in which the red blood cells are deficient in hemoglobin, resulting in poor health.
According to a couple of studies carried out by ICDDR,B the prevalence of anaemia was recorded 64 percent among young children between 12-23 months, while this number goes as high as nearly 80 percent among infants aged under one year.
The main factors that are contributing to the high number of anaemic children in Bangladesh are poverty, poor dietary intake, sanitation and malnutrition. But the ignorance of mothers about supplementary feeding has a great role to compounding the problem.
The two most stunning revelations of the studies were that there was a strong association between child anaemia and Vitamin A deficiency among mothers, while environmental toxins such as arsenic might have an impact on it, a claim which needs to be tested again through further research.
The monthly health and science bulletin of ICDDR,B said Bangladeshi mothers usually start providing rice-based supplementary food to their babies along with breast milk after three months of age. But only a microscopic number of them have the knowledge that these rice-based food lack both iron and protein, two vital factors to block anaemia.
A national survey in mid nineties also identified that the diets of children in Bangladesh mark deficit of energy, protein, iron and other nutrients. The children having a low-birth weight are also more prone to anaemic conditions, read the studies done in both rural and urban settings.
A separate study conducted over 1,237 children under two years of age in 30 villages in Monohordi of Narsingdi found 60 percent rural children anaemic when a single parameter, haemoglobin level, was used. But only half of the anaemic children were `iron deficient anaemic.'
According to studies, early childhood anaemia adversely affects growth, immunity and cognitive development. Then problem, which is acute in developing countries like Bangladesh, is mainly thought to be linked with nutrition, but public health researchers have many more issues to intervene to save future generations.
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