Peer-reviewed article
Associations of early marriage and early childbearing with anemia among adolescent girls in Ethiopia: a multilevel analysis of nationwide survey
Fentanesh Nibret Tiruneh, Mesfin Wogayehu Tenagashaw, Degnet Teferi Asres, Hirut Assaye ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether early marriage and early childbearing are associated with anemia in adolescent girls aged 15-19 in Ethiopia. Using data from a 2016 national survey of 3,172 girls, researchers found that about one in four adolescent girls had anemia. Girls who were married and those living in communities with high rates of early childbearing had significantly higher rates of anemia. The findings highlight the health consequences of child marriage and early pregnancy for young girls.
Key points
- Overall anemia prevalence among female adolescents aged 15-19 was 23.8%
- Individual-level marital status was associated with 1.53 times higher odds of anemia
- Community-level childbearing status was associated with 2.80 times higher odds of anemia
- Study used multilevel analysis to examine both individual and community-level factors
- Authors conclude effective policies are needed to end child marriage and adolescent pregnancy
Limitations
This is an observational cross-sectional study, so it cannot establish causation, only associations. The analysis does not evaluate any intervention, so it cannot tell us what works to prevent anemia in this population.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Early marriage and early childbearing are common practices in Ethiopia. Girls who get married and give birth at a very young age are more likely to experience several health problems including anemia among others. However, the effects of early marriage and early childbearing on anemia status of adolescent girls have not been quantified in previous studies. In this study, we assessed whether early marriage and early childbearing measured at both individual and community levels are associated with adolescent anemia. METHODS: We analyzed data from the 2016 demographic and health survey of Ethiopia. Our study focused on 3172 late female adolescents (15-19 years). We used the chi-squared test and spearman correlation coefficients for bivariate analysis. The relationship between early marriage and childbearing with anemia was evaluated using multilevel binary logistic regression models while controlling other determinants. RESULTS: Overall prevalence of anemia among female adolescents was 23.8% (95% CI; 22.3-25.2). Our multivariable multilevel analysis showed that individual-level marital status (AOR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.06-2.02) and community-level childbearing status (AOR = 2.80, 95% CI 1.25-6.29) were positively associated with anemia among female adolescents. CONCLUSION: Our findings show the presence of significant association between early marriage & early childbearing with adolescent anemia. Therefore, there is a need for effective policies and programs to end the practice of early child marriage and the consequent adolescent pregnancy in Ethiopia. This will help to improve nutritional status of adolescent girls as well as nutritional outcomes of their children.