Exploring African Fermented Foods: Microbial Folate Synthesis and Potential for <i>In Situ</i> Fortification

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Résumé

Anemia is a public health problem afecting mainly children under 5 years and pregnant women. However, school-age children are
also afected but are often neglected in research. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with anemia
among primary school children in public schools in the Plateau Central Region of Burkina Faso. Hemoglobin (Hb) concentration
was determined using a HemoCue HB201þ analyzer. Data were collected from 551 schoolchildren aged 5–14 years. Anemia was
established if the Hb level was lower than 11.5 g/dL in children aged 5–11 years and less than 12 g/dL in children aged 12–14 years.
Binary logistic regression was adjusted to identify factors associated with anemia at a p value < 0.05. The prevalence of anemia was
59.2%, including 52.6% of the girls. Schoolchildren aged 5–11 years were the most afected, with a rate of 58.5%, versus 60.2% for
schoolchildren aged 12–14 years. The fact of dwelling in the provinces of Ganzourgou (OR = 2.12; 95% CI: 1.35–3.31) and
Oubritenga (OR = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.09–2.69), working as a dressmaker (OR = 0.29; 95% CI: 0.08–0.95), and having mothers who are
civil servants (OR = 0.42; 95% CI: 0.16–1.12) are associated with anemia. Improving women’s income levels and province-specifc
actions could help to reduce the prevalence of anemia in this region.

Mots-clés

anemia , associated factors ,Burkina Faso ,schoolchildren ,school feeding