Khat chewing and restrictive dietary behaviors are associated with anemia among pregnant women in high prevalence rural communities in eastern Ethiopia.

Background: Anemia affects a high proportion of pregnant women in the developing countries. Factors associated with it vary in context. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and predictors of anemia among pregnant women in the rural eastern Ethiopia.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was done on 1678 pregnant women who were selected by a cluster random sampling technique. A pregnant woman was identified as anemic if her hemoglobin concentration was <11 g/dl. Data were collected in a community-based setting. Multilevel mixed effect logistic regression was used to determine the adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the predictors of anemia.

Results: Anemia was observed among 737(43.9%) of the 1678 pregnant women studied (95% CI 41.5%-46.3%). After controlling for the confounders, the risk of anemia was 29% higher in the women who chewed khat daily than those who sometimes or never did so (AOR, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.02-1.62). The study subjects with restrictive dietary behavior (reduced either meal size or frequency) had a 39% higher risk of anemia compared to those without restrictive dietary behavior (AOR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.02-1.88). The risk of anemia was increased by 68% (AOR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.15-2.47), and 60% (AOR, 1.60; 95% CI, 1.08-2.37) in parity levels of 2 births and 3 births, respectively. Compared to the first trimester, the risk of anemia was higher by two-fold (AOR, 2.09; 95% CI, 1.46-3.00) in the second trimester and by four-fold (AOR, 4.23; 95% CI, 2.97-6.02) in the third trimester.

Conclusion: In this study, two out of five women were anemic. Chewing khat and restrictive dietary habits that are associated with anemia in the setting should be addressed through public education programs. Interventions should also focus on the women at higher parity levels and those who are in advanced stages of pregnancy.