Understanding Anemia of Odisha: Evidence from National Family Health Surveys

Introduction: Anemia is a public health problem in Odisha, an eastern state of India. In this context, it is necessary to understand the regions and socio-economic-demographic groups had more prevalence of anemia of different levels in the last round of NFHS and also want to assess the regions and socio-economic and demographic groups had continuously more prevalence of anemia of different levels among children, women and men across NFHS and also want to examine the regions and socio-economic and demographic groups had changed their pattern of high prevalence of anemia of different levels among children, women and men across the datasets in Odisha. Methodology: A cross sectional design with quantitative techniques like trend analysis, spatial distribution analysis, geographic information system analysis and finally bi-variate analysis are carried out among children, women and men across different NFHSs in Odisha. Results: It is found that the trend of anemia of different levels were mostly declining among children, women and men however the prevalence was more in the latest round compare to immediate previous round. The southern and western region of Odisha had more prevalence of anemia however the other region of Odisha had also significant amount of anemia. Lastly, culture had an important role in deciding disease pattern among groups, particularly anemia of different levels, while there was also cultural shift of prevalence of anemia of different levels among groups in Odisha. Conclusion: The study suggests that focus should be on every district and also socio-economic-demographic groups of children and women with high prevalence of anemia of different levels in the last round of NFHS along with continuous more prevalence of anemia of different levels among socio-economic-demographic groups of children and women across NFHSs. Lastly, NFHS should collect socio-economic and demographic data on men for proper understanding about anemia.