Anemia and associated factors among internally displaced children at Debark refugee camp, North Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Children in refugee camps, due to their living conditions, are the most vulnerable groups to suffer from anemia. Nutritional deficiencies, especially iron deficiency is the most common causes of anemia. However, there is limited information on the prevalence and associated factors of anemia in Ethiopia. Hence, this study aimed to assess the prevalence and associated factors of anemia among internally displaced children at Debark refugee camp, Northwest Ethiopia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 354 internally displaced children, at Debark refugee camp from March to May 2022. A systematic sampling technique was employed. The socio demographic characteristics were collected by using structured questionnaire via face-to-face interview with the caregivers. The hemoglobin level was determined using HemoCue301+. Form anemic children, venous blood sample was collected for iron profile analysis. Parasitological and anthropometric measurements were also done. The data were entered using Epi-data version 4.6.0.6 and exported to STATA version 14 for analysis. Bi-variable and multivariable binary logistic regression analysis were done. Both crude odds ratio and adjusted odds ratio with the corresponding 95% confidence interval were calculated to measure the strength of association. P-Value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant association. RESULTS: From the total of 354 children included in this study, more than half (54.8%) of them were male. The median age of children was 7 years with interquartile range of (4–10) years. The total prevalence of anemia in this study was 33.62% (95% CI:28.7, 38.7). Moderate type anemia was predominant in this study. From anemic children 30 (25.2%) had iron deficiency anemia. In this study, low dietary diversity (AOR = 4.9; 95% CI: 2.0, 11.7), duration in the camp more than six months (AOR = 4.2; 95% CI:1.9, 9.4), presence of diarrhea (AOR = 2.7; 95% CI:1.3, 5.7), fever (AOR = 3.4; 95% CI:1.6, 7.1), and wasting (AOR = 3.6; 95% CI:1.3, 10.3) were significantly associated with the prevalence of anemia. CONCLUSION: Anemia was moderate public health problem in the current study. Focused policies and strategies towards to internally displaced children should be designed to reduce anemia, by preventing the significant risk factors associated with anemia.