Maternal body mass index and child haemoglobin: A national cross-sectional study in Peru.

Authors

Arnold F Julca Avalos, Jeniffer K Pastor Aponte, Victor A Ramos Berrocal, David R Soriano-Moreno

Published in

PloS one. Volume 21. Issue 9. Pages e0359236. Epub Sep 25, 2026.

Abstract

Childhood anaemia remains a major public health problem in Peru. Although several maternal and environmental factors have been implicated, the association between maternal body mass index (BMI) and anaemia in young children remains inconsistent. This study aimed to evaluate the association between maternal BMI and both anaemia and haemoglobin levels in children aged 6-59 months in Peru.
We conducted a cross-sectional analytical study using data from the 2024 Peruvian Demographic and Family Health Survey. Children aged 6-59 months and their mothers were included. Maternal BMI was the exposure variable, while childhood anaemia and haemoglobin concentration were the outcomes. Poisson regression was used to estimate prevalence ratios for anaemia, and linear regression models were applied to assess associations with haemoglobin levels.
A total of 16,973 children were analysed. In adjusted analyses, maternal BMI categories were not associated with anaemia prevalence. However, maternal obesity, compared to normal weight, was associated with higher haemoglobin levels in children (adjusted β 0.72 g/dL; 95% CI 0.23 to 1.22). Additionally, each 1 kg/m2 increase in maternal BMI was associated with a 0.07 g/dL increase in child haemoglobin (adjusted β 0.07; 95% CI 0.03 to 0.11).
Maternal body mass index was not associated with the prevalence of anaemia, although a positive association was observed with child haemoglobin levels. These findings support the inclusion of maternal nutritional status within comprehensive anaemia prevention strategies and highlight the need for longitudinal studies to confirm these associations.

PMID:
42789561
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 26 Sep 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.