Early childhood anaemia more than doubles the risk of developmental vulnerability at school-age among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children of remote Far North Queensland: Findings of a retrospective cohort study

Early childhood anaemia more than doubles the risk of developmental vulnerability at school-age among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children of remote Far North Queensland: Findings of a retrospective cohort study Journal Article

Nutrition & Dietetics

• Author(s): Leonard, Dympna, Buettner, Petra, Thompson, Fintan, Makrides, Maria, McDermott, Robyn
• Published: 2020
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
• ISBN: 1446-6368

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Abstract: Aims Early childhood anaemia, usually attributed to iron deficiency, is associated with persistent detrimental effects on child development. This study investigates the association of anaemia between age six and 23?months with indicators of childhood development at school-age among children of remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of Far North Queensland. Methods The triennial Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) encompasses five domains of early childhood development?physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills (school-based), communication skills and general knowledge. AEDC 2012 and 2015 assessments were linked with health information for children and their mothers from remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of Far North Queensland. Results AEDC assessments were available for 250 children who had measurements of haemoglobin recorded at age 6 to 23?months. More children who had had early childhood anaemia (n = 66/143, 46.2%, [37.9%, 54.4%]) were developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains compared to those who had not been anaemic (n = 25/107, 23.4% [15.2%, 31.5%], P?

• Urls: https://doi.org/10.1111/1747-0080.12602