Temporal evolution of anemia in children aged six to 59 months in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil, 1997 to 2016

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the temporal evolution of anemia in children aged six to 59 months in Pernambuco, based on population surveys from 1997, 2006, and 2016 and the factors associated with the situation in 2016. METHODS: The field studies took place in the participants’ households, in the Recife Metropolitan Area, as well as in the urban and rural inland. The trend study of anemia in children used data from the State Health and Nutrition Survey (Pesquisa Estadual de Saúde e Nutrição — PESN) II (40.9%) and III (32.8%). Data from PESN IV were collected using questionnaires administered to families to verify socioeconomic and individual conditions, as well as anthropometric — weight and height — and biochemical — hemoglobin — records. We adopted the test for trend in proportion for the time trend study and Poisson regression for hypothesis tests for the associated factors. Statistically significance was set at a p-value<0.05. RESULTS: In 2016, the prevalence of anemia was 24.2%, indicating a significant reduction in disease incidence. In children aged 6–23 months, this number decreased from PENS II and III to PENS IV — 63 and 55.6 to 37.7% (p<0.001), respectively. In 2016, the statistically significant variables for anemia in children were maternal hemoglobin, child's age, current or recent case of diarrhea, and weight-for-age index CONCLUSION: Between 1997 and 2016, anemia rates decreased, showing an epidemiological trend that can contribute to continuously improve the health of children under five years of age in Pernambuco.