An assessment of anemia status of child-mother pairs in Bangladesh

Anemia (e.g. iron deficiency anemia) is a serious public health concern that often coexists within the same household, particularly threatening child-mother pairs. Despite the high prevalence, there is a paucity of research to understand the anemia status of child-mother pairs in Bangladesh. This study aimed to explore the anemia status of child-mother pairs and associated factors using data from the 2011 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS). Multinomial logistic regression was used to estimate the association between factors and different pairs. Among the child-mother pairs, about 26% was both anemic, followed by child anemic-mother nonanemic (25%) and child nonanemic-mother anemic (17%). Several factors were significantly associated with anemia status of child-mother pairs. Current breastfeeding status was associated with greater odds of different anemia status pairs. Mothers’ undernutrition was related to greater odds of child-mother anemic pairs (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.775, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.216–2.593, p = 0.0030). Living in wealthier households was associated with lower odds of child-mother anemic pairs (AOR 0.519, 95% CI 0.320–0.842, p = 0.0080). Overall, the findings from this study show the importance of simultaneous consideration of children and mothers for anemia-related health programs as well as cohort-specific tailored interventions to reduce anemia burden.