Association of nutritional status and anemia with multi-micronutrient supplementation in young children in Peru

Introduction: Although several social interventions have been developed by the Peruvian State, anemia is present in one out of every two children in Peru. Thus, it is important to evaluate whether such interventions are achieving their objectives. Objective: This study aimed to determine the association of nutritional status and anemia with multi-micronutrient supplementation in children younger than three years in Huancayo, Peru. Materials and Methods: This retrospective, longitudinal, analytical, and observational study included secondary data of children younger than 3 years from the Sicaya District, in the Huancayo province. Data were collected from health center medical records. Nutritional and anemia status, and socio-demographic characteristics of children receiving multi-micronutrient supplementation were recorded. Statistical analyses were based on generalized linear models. Results: Data of 76 children with available medical records were analyzed, and their pre-and post-intervention median ages were 6 and 11 months (range: 7–35 months), respectively. Significant positive linear correlations were observed between the number of multi-micronutrient doses and weight, height, and hemoglobin concentration. In bivariate and multivariate analyses, no significant associations were observed between anthropometric measurements and anemia (after multi-micronutrient intervention) (p>0.05), nor between the number of received doses of multi-micronutrients, sex, and age. Conclusion: Multi-micronutrient supplementation may be correlated with both physiological and anthropometric variables, but not with indicators of child development. These associations require further evaluations to determine whether social programs promoting multi-micronutrient supplementation improve the development of children with anemia.