Does education offset the effect of maternal disadvantage on childhood anaemia in Tanzania? Evidence from a nationally representative cross-sectional study

Anaemia, particularly among children under 5 years, is a public health problem of serious concern. In East Africa, approximately 75% of under-five children suffer from anaemia [1]. In regions within Tanzania, the prevalence of anaemia among under-five children ranges between 44 and 76% [2]. In 2010, the Tanzania demographic and health survey reported the prevalence of anaemia in the Lake Zone to be 55%. In most health facilities in Tanzania, severe anaemia is among the causes of admission and mortality in the paediatrics’ ward [3].

Poor nutritional status, micro-nutrient deficiencies, intestinal worms, HIV infection, haematological malignancies and chronic diseases such as sickle cell disease are known to be contributing factors of the high prevalence of anaemia [1]. Its implications for health, as well as social and economic development, are diverse. Among children, it weakens their mental and physical development resulting in poor academic performance and employability in later years [3].

Over the years, diverse intervention programs such as food fortification, vitamin A for under-five children and iron folate supplement for pregnant women have been implemented with the aim of reducing childhood anaemia in Tanzania [3]. Despite these interventions, the prevalence of anaemia remains high. Given its prevalence and the developmental challenges that it poses for children, understanding the risk factors of anaemia is expected to drive interventions and inform existing prevention measures towards achieving the Post 2015 Sustainable development goal 3 for improvement in health and well-being.

Several studies have examined the socio-demographic factors associated with child health and survival using malnutrition and mortality as key proxies for child health. In the absence of urgent treatment, anaemic children also suffer severe complications [4]. Although some factors such as malaria, HIV infections and malnutrition are known to increase anaemia risk among children, other potential risk factors such as maternal education and other socio-economic characteristics of the mother may increase the risk of anaemia among children [5‐7].

Evidence of the importance of maternal education continues to emerge [6, 8‐10]. Studies have shown that maternal education can reduce risks of poor child health through higher health knowledge, adherence to recommended feeding practices for children, and increased command over resources [10, 11]. Highly educated mothers can better understand printed and audio health information, convey their children’s health needs at health facilities and better understand complex treatment regimens [11]. Given these benefits, it is likely that disadvantages in other socio-economic characteristics may have little effects on the children of better-educated mothers.

Yet, in Tanzania and in part of sub-Saharan Africa where anaemia is prevalent, evidence of the benefit of maternal education in reducing the risks associated with maternal disadvantage are scarce. As a result, we examined if maternal education might reduce the risk of anaemia in under-five children whose mothers are disadvantaged in other socio-economic indices. To clearly understand this relationship, we analyzed the recent dataset from the Tanzania demographic and health survey and malaria indicator survey to illuminate the prevalence and associated factors of anaemia across selected socio-demographics. Our study builds upon Mosley and Chen’s 1984 analytical framework for the study of maternal and child survival in developing countries [6]. We argue that the risk of anaemia in children may be reduced if the socio-demographic and economic characteristics relating to the mothers are improved. An awareness of this relationship is expected to facilitate improved targeted interventions for reducing the risks of anaemia among under-five children in Tanzania.

Data for this study was drawn from the children recode dataset of the 2015–16 Tanzania demographic, health and malaria indicator survey. The dataset contains information that may be used to monitor and evaluate the demographic and health indicators of children under 5 years.

In order to provide estimates intended to be representative of the entire country, a two-stage sample design was used. This sampling design allowed the estimation of indicators for each of the 30 regions of the country. The first stage of the sampling design, involved the selection of 608 clusters, consisting of enumeration areas delineated for the 2012 Tanzania Population and Housing Census [12]. In the second stage, 22 households from each of the clusters was systematic selected. This was done after a complete households listing was carried out for all 608 selected clusters in the country [12]. This yielded a total representative probability sample of 10,233 children under 5 years born to 13,266 women who completed the interviews and reside in any of the 13,376 households selected for participation in the survey. In all the households, with the parent’s or guardian’s consent, children age 6–59 months were tested for anaemia and malaria.

A sub-sample of 2219 children who did not participate in the anemia module were further excluded from analysis. This comprised of children who were not alive or physically present at the time of data collection, children whose parents or guardian refused, and those who were less than 6 months of age at the time of data collection. We also excluded 98 children with missing information on key demographic, maternal, and household characteristics. This led to a final analytic sample of 7916 children under five (6–59 months) years in Tanzania who had complete information on all socio-demographic variables and whose anthropometric data and anaemia data were collected.

In this study, we attempted to identify the maternal socio-demographic characteristics associated with the risks of anaemia as well as how access to educational opportunities for mothers may reduce the risk for children under-five in Tanzania. We observed a high level of anaemia among children under-5 years in Tanzania. This confirms the severity of anaemia as a public health challenge that needs immediate actions and measures in Tanzania based on the WHO criteria. This finding is similar to another study in Tanzania [18]. Prior studies have noted high malaria infection, nutritional deficiencies and sickle cell disease to be contributing factors to this high prevalence [3]. We also noted variations in the severity of anemia by place and region of residence. Our finding that anaemia is more common in Zanzibar is supported by a recent report of the 2014 Tanzania National Nutrition Survey. Although deworming pills and iron folic acid (IFA) supplements could help prevent the risk of anemia and are critical for the reduction of child morbidity and mortality the report suggests that children in the mainland (71%) are more likely to be dewormed against Helminthes or intestinal worms compared to Zanzibar resident children (54%) [19]. About 31% of women aged 15–49 years with children under 5 years of age reported not using iron-folic acid supplementation during pregnancy compared to about 37% of women in the Zanzibar [19].

In this study, maternal education emerges as a significant predictor of anaemia. This finding is consistent with those observed in prior studies in Tanzania [20‐24]. Maternal education, particularly at the secondary level, has been linked to improved child health outcomes [13]. This protective benefit of maternal education has been shown to be related to an increased knowledge needed for adequate healthcare and nutrition for children hence its possibility for reducing the risk of anaemia.

Maternal employment status is also associated with anaemia among under-five children in Tanzania, and this may be because working mothers are able to afford quality meal supplements, particularly since one of the major causes of anaemia in developing countries is nutrient deficiency. Unemployment is associated with poor socio-economic status. This is likely to reflect nutritional deficiencies and recurrence of infections which more likely increases the risk of anaemia. This result is similar to a study conducted in Mwanza Tanzania that found that unemployment among caretakers was strongly associated with severe anaemia [3].

We observe that maternal age is negatively associated with anaemia. This result corresponds with results from other studies in Cape Verde and rural Indian communities where children whose mothers were younger were significantly more likely to have anaemia [24‐26]. Young mothers may have challenges with child care due to limited resources at their disposal which may subsequently result in poor health outcomes [24, 26]. It is also likely that young mothers are at a disadvantage due to other age-related socio-demographic characteristics like education, employment status and marriage [5]. Our finding that a higher number of siblings is associated with increased anaemia is consistent with those observed in prior studies [24, 27]. A high number of children is likely to impact on women’s ability to feed the children appropriately and subsequently trade quality for quantity in order to meet the needs of every member of the family [5, 27]. A higher number of children ever born per woman is also an indication of frequent pregnancy which may also increase the risk of anaemia. [5]. The wealth index has also been identified to be significantly associated with anaemia in young children in studies conducted in rural India and the United States [28, 29]. A common explanation for this observed pattern of relationship has been that malnutrition, deficiencies in other micronutrients, exposure to biofuel smoke and other unexplained characteristics associated with lower socioeconomic status may be a contributing factor [28‐30].

In this study, maternal marital status is not significantly associated with the likelihood of anaemia in the general sample. Recent studies of under-five children in sub-Saharan Africa have shown similar findings where maternal marital status was not significantly associated with child health status [31, 32]. However, when the result is stratified by maternal educational attainment, our finding shows that the health disadvantage of having an unmarried mother is stronger for children whose mother has no education. The risk of anaemia for children whose mother has secondary or higher education is not significantly different across almost all other levels of the maternal socio-demographic characteristics. Similar relationships have been found in prior studies. For instance, Smith-Greenaway [13] in her study showed that premarital childbearing in the context of educational advantage does not bear the negative consequences that it does for children whose mothers are educationally disadvantaged. Moreover, increasing evidence from South Africa confirms that even in the absence of marriage, fathers are involved in the well-being of their children [33, 34]. Building upon Smith-Greenaway’s argument, it is possible that more educated unmarried mothers may be better positioned to receive support not only from a family member with greater resources but also from the child’s father [13]. This finding suggests that improved maternal socio-economic conditions are essential for reducing the risk of anaemia among children under 5 years. As a crucial way for reducing the levels of anaemia, our findings coincide with those of previous studies and emphasize the need to invest in women’s education as a way to enhance child well-being in developing countries [18].

It is however worth noting that information on the inherited disorder of haemoglobin structure among the children included in this study such as the case in sickle cell anaemia was not available in the dataset. As a result, it is possible that for some of the children their level of haemoglobin could have been influenced by genetic makeup rather than maternal socio-demographic characteristics.

The findings from this study underscore the fact that the prevalence of anaemia among under-five children in Tanzania is high especially in the Zanzibar region. Maternal characteristics including older age, higher education, access to health insurance, being employed and high household wealth are protective factors against anaemia among under-five children in Tanzania. We find that access to secondary or higher maternal education reduces the risks of anaemia among children of disadvantaged mothers. The health disadvantage of being born to an unmarried mother is aggravated only among children of women with no education.

Finally, the key recommendation emerging from this study is that programs aimed at reducing anaemia among children under-5 years in Tanzania especially the National Nutrition Strategy by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in the country should give special attention to young, males, and malnourished children. Children of unmarried, uneducated and unemployed mothers should also be targeted.