Socio-Demographic Determinants of Anemia among Women: A Study about Empowered Action Group (EAG) States of India Dubey Dharmendra Kumar1,*, Das Arindam2 1Assistant Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences (SIHS), SIU, Pune 2Associate Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences (SIHS), SIU, Pune *Corresponding Author: Dr. Dharmendra Kumar Dubey, Assistant Professor, Symbiosis Institute of Health Sciences (SIHS), Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India, Email: dubey.dharm@gmail.com
Online published on 4 June, 2019. Abstract Introduction Anemia is found amongst 54–59 million pregnant women globally. Surprisingly nearly 446–491 million non-pregnant females are suffering from anemia. It is still one of the major public health problems in India; most common nutritional deficiency in pregnant women is identified Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in various studies over the time. Anemia is conditions in which the number of red blood cells is insufficient to meet physiologic needs, which vary by distinguish socio-demographic factors, economic factors and pregnancy status including number of pregnancies and children ever born. Iron deficiency is emerged out as one of the most common cause of anemia globally. Objective To investigate the determinants of anemia among women and its association with socioeconomic and demographic factors in Empowered Action Group (EAG) states of India. Materials and Method In this study secondary data was used for this study. More specifically, fourth round of national family health survey (2015–16) data was considered to fulfill the objectives of the study. Appropriate statistical techniques were applied to identify the significant socio-demographic and economic determinates of anemia among women in EAG states of India namely multivariable logistic regression. In India, the eight states with poor indicators pertaining to social, economic, demographic and health are considered as EAG states. These states include Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Uttaranchal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Results The preliminary analysis shows, in India 53% women are reported with any kind of anemia. In EAG states, anemia level amongst females are reported as; Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh (52.5% & 47.0%), Bihar and Jharkhand (63% & 65%), Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal (52.4% & 45.2), Rajasthan (46.8%) and Odisha (51%) respectively. Conclusion Among the EAG states, identified several modifiable risk factors that could be targeted to reduce anemia among women in age group (15–49), in rural areas socio-economic factors and body mass index (BMI). Focused key points include prevention and treatment of anemia during pregnancy and provision of adequate complementary diet. Top Keywords Anemia, BMI, women, EAG states, NFHS-4. Top |