The Prevalence of Anemia in Central and Eastern China: Evidence from The China Health and Nutrition Survey
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Although China has experienced rapid economic growth over the past few decades, significant health and nutritional problems remain. Unfortunately, because little work has been done to track basic diseases, such as iron-deficiency anemia, the exact prevalence of these health problems is often unknown. The goals of this paper are to (1) assess the prevalence of anemia in China and (2) to identify individual-, household- and community-based factors that correlate with anemia. We use data from the 2009 wave of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), including hemoglobin measurements on 7261 individuals from 170 communities and 7 provinces in Central and Eastern China. Our baseline data show that the overall anemia rate is 13.4% using the WHO’s blood hemoglobin thresholds (1968). This rate implies that in China’s more developed Central and Eastern regions up to 180 million people are anemic. Moreover, certain vulnerable subgroups are disproportionately affected by anemia. Seniors (aged 60 and above) are more likely to be anemic than individuals in younger age cohorts, and females have higher rates of anemia across all age groups (except among children, aged 7 to 14 years). We find a negative correlation between household wealth and anemia status, suggesting that anemia rates might decline as China’s economy continues to grow. On the other hand, we find that anemia rates are slightly higher in migrant households, which by their very nature should be experiencing improved economic status.
RPRT
Rural Education Action Project Working Paper 257
Li, Liying
Luo, Renfu
Sylvia, Sean
Medina, Alexis
Rozelle, Scott
2013
257
Stanford University
Stanford, California
2173