Prevalence, factors and association with academic performance of anaemia in Kandahar schoolchildren: a cross-sectional analytical study

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and associated factors of anaemia and its association with the academic performance of schoolchildren in Kandahar, Afghanistan. DESIGN: This was a cross-sectional analytical study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: This was a school-based study conducted among 1866 schoolchildren aged 6-14 years in Kandahar city from September to December 2023. Haemoglobin concentration was measured using a portable HemoCue Hb 301 analyser, while the WHO age-adjusted cut-off for haemoglobin was used to classify anaemia. Data were analysed by using descriptive statistics, the χ² test and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: In this study, the mean age of the children was 9.1 years, 61.1% (1138/1866) were boys, 83.6% (1560/1866) had illiterate mothers, and 81.3% (1517/1866) belonged to poor families. Prevalence of anaemia among schoolchildren was 64.1% (1196/1866), while 20.8% (388/1866), 41.7% (778/1866), and 1.6% (30/1866) were suffering from mild, moderate and severe anaemia, respectively. Main associated factors of anaemia were being male (adjusted OR (AOR) 1.4, 95% CI 1.1 to 1.7, p=0.003), unemployed father (AOR 1.5, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.2, p=0.020), poor family (AOR 2.3, 95% CI 1.8 to 2.9, p