Author:
Islam Mohammad Redwanul,Moinuddin Md,Ahmed Ayeda,Rahman Syed Moshfiqur
Abstract
Abstract
Background
Malnutrition continues to affect under-five children in Africa to an overwhelming proportion. The situation is further compounded by the burden of sickle cell disease (SCD). However, association of SCD with stunting, wasting, and underweight in a nationally representative sample of under-five children remains unexplored. We aimed to describe prevalence of undernutrition by sickle cell status, to evaluate its association with growth faltering ascertained by anthropometric indices, and to explore mediating role of hemoglobin.
Methods
We availed data from the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) and the sample comprised 11,233 children aged 6–59 months who were successfully genotyped for SCD. The DHS employed a two-stage, stratified sampling strategy. SickleSCAN rapid diagnostic test was used for SCD genotyping. Z-scores of length/height-for-age (HAZ), weight-for-height (WHZ), and weight-for-age (WAZ) were computed against the 2006 World Health Organization Child Growth Standards. We fitted logistic regression models to evaluate association of SCD with stunting, wasting, and underweight. Mediation analysis was performed to capture the indirect effect of and proportion of total effect mediated through hemoglobin level in SCD-anthropometric indices association.
Results
Prevalences of stunting, wasting, and underweight among children with SCD were 55.4% (54.5–56.4), 9.1% (8.6–9.7), and 38.9% (38.0–39.8), respectively. The odds of stunting were 2.39 times higher (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 2.39, 95% CI: 1.26–4.54) among sickle children than those with normal hemoglobin. SCD was also significantly associated with underweight (aOR 2.64, 95% CI: 1.25–5.98), but not with wasting (aOR: 1.60, 95% CI 0.85–3.02). Association of SCD with all three anthropometric indices was significantly mediated through hemoglobin level: for SCD-HAZ, the adjusted indirect effect (aIE) was − 0.328 (95% CI: − 0.387, − 0.270); for SCD-WHZ, the aIE was − 0.080 (95% CI: − 0.114, − 0.050); and for SCD-WAZ, the aIE was − 0.245 (95% CI: − 0.291, − 0.200).
Conclusion
We presented compelling evidence of the negative impact of SCD on anthropometric indices of nutritional status of under-five children. Integration of a nutrition-oriented approach into a definitive SCD care package and its nationwide implementation could bring promising results by mitigating the nutritional vulnerability of children with SCD.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Reference40 articles.
1. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization, World Bank Group. Levels and trends in child malnutrition: key findings of the 2019 Edition of the Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates. Geneva: WHO; 2019. Available from: https://www.who.int/nutgrowthdb/estimates2018/en/.
2. James SL, Abate D, Abate KH, Abay SM, Abbafati C, Abbasi N, et al. Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 354 diseases and injuries for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. Lancet. 2018;392:1789–858.
3. Piel FB, Hay SI, Gupta S, Weatherall DJ, Williams TN. Global burden of sickle cell anaemia in children under five, 2010–2050: modelling based on demographics, excess mortality, and interventions. Osrin D, editor. PLoS Med. 2013;10:e1001484.
4. Hyacinth HI, Adekeye OA, Yilgwan CS. Malnutrition in sickle cell anemia: implications for infection, growth, and maturation. J Soc Behav Health Sci. 2013;7.
5. Grosse SD, Odame I, Atrash HK, Amendah DD, Piel FB, Williams TN. Sickle cell disease in Africa. Am J Prev Med. 2011;41:S398–405.