Antenatal care attendance and maternal knowledge on child feeding predict haemoglobin level of pre-school children in Wa Municipality of Ghana
ISSN: 0034-6659
Article publication date: 23 July 2020
Issue publication date: 6 May 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify locally relevant factors that predict low haemoglobin (Hb < 11.0g/dl) level of pre-school children (6–23 months) in an impoverished area of Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a cross-sectional analysis of 278 mother–child pairs selected from households using random sampling techniques. Child feeding knowledge, antenatal care (ANC) practices and socio-demographic characteristics were assessed. Hb levels were laboratory determined. This paper modelled the predictors of low Hb in multiple linear regressions.
Findings
More than half (53.0%) of the children were female and aged more than one year (60.4%). Mean Hb was 8.5 ± 1.5 g/dl, and the prevalence of anaemia was 95.0%. High child feeding knowledge was independently associated with increased Hb of children after adjusting for the effects of other factors (β = 0.61, p < 0.005), and mothers who made at least four ANC visits during pregnancy had children with high Hb (β = 0.42, p = 0.04). This paper found some evidence of an inverse association between high household wealth and child Hb levels (β= −0.75, p = 0.06).
Originality/value
This study reports a high prevalence of low haemoglobin levels and anaemia in pre-school children in an impoverished area in Ghana. Maternal education on appropriate child feeding and encouragement of antenatal care attendance during pregnancy are key factors to increasing child haemoglobin levels in this setting. Though the current study bridges the knowledge gap between health service education and practice, a large population-based study is required to confirm the finding.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Conflict of interest: the authors have no competing interests.
Funding: this research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Ethical statement: Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the University for Development Studies Institutional Review Board (UDSIRB), Tamale, Ghana. We also obtained permission from the Regional Health Directorate of the Upper West Region to conduct the study in the health facilities. All participants were informed about the nature and processes involved in the study, the research objectives and the confidentiality of the data. The participation of the subjects was completely voluntary, and signature/thumbprint consent was obtained from each mother before their children were recruited into the study.
Author’s contributions/statement: MNA: conceptualization, methodology, software, writing-original draft preparation, visualization, investigation, supervision and writing–reviewing and editing. ATKL: conceptualization, methodology, software, writing-original draft preparation and data curation. ZA: methodology, software, data curation, visualization, investigation, validation and writing–reviewing and editing.
The authors thank the mothers for their participation in this study. The authors are also grateful to the Upper West regional and municipal directors of health of Ghana Health Service for their support.
Citation
Adokiya, M.N., Langu, A.T.K. and Ali, Z. (2021), "Antenatal care attendance and maternal knowledge on child feeding predict haemoglobin level of pre-school children in Wa Municipality of Ghana", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 51 No. 3, pp. 529-540. https://doi.org/10.1108/NFS-04-2020-0120
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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