Nutritional-Related Predictors of Anemia among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care in Central Ethiopia: An Unmatched Case-Control Study

BACKGROUND: Anemia is a major public health problem in both developed and developing countries especially among pregnant women. Nearly half of pregnant women in Ethiopia have anemia which has both health and economic impacts. Therefore, this study is aimed at identifying nutritional-related predictors of anemia among pregnant women attending antenatal care in Central Ethiopia, 2019. METHODS: An unmatched case-control study was conducted at public hospitals in Central Ethiopia from February to April 2019. The consecutive sampling technique was used to select study participants. Data were collected by a structured questionnaire, and the collected data were entered into Epi Info version 7 and SPSS version 23 for analysis. Binary and multiple logistic regression analyses were computed to identify predictors of anemia. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) and p value < 0.05 was used to determine the presence of an association. RESULT: A total of 426 pregnant women (142 cases and 284 controls) had participated in this study. Taking tea/coffee immediately after food (AOR = 2.35, 95% CI: 1.39-3.99), mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of mothers of <23 centimeters (AOR = 3.83, 95% CI: 2.26-6.49), the presence of forbidden food during pregnancy (AOR = 2.21, 95% CI: 1.24-3.88), not taking additional food (AOR = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.17-3.40), unable to take fruit (AOR = 4.05, 95% CI: 1.3-15.47), loss of appetite (AOR = 2.28, 95% CI: 1.28-4.09), low dietary diversity score (DDS) (AOR = 3.29, 95% CI: 1.83-5.90), and medium DDS (AOR = 2.88, 95% CI: 1.46-5.70) were found to be determinants of anemia. CONCLUSIONS: Taking tea or coffee immediately after food, MUAC of mothers, the presence of forbidden food, not taking additional food, frequency of taking fruit, and dietary diversity were predictors of anemia among pregnant women. Therefore, interventions targeted at prevention of anemia among pregnant mothers should emphatically consider those identified determinants. This finding also highlights the need for strong nutritional counseling to prevent anemia among pregnant mothers during antenatal care follow-ups along with other interventions.