Regional Institute for Population Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana.
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2019 Jul 24;14(7):e0219310. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0219310. eCollection 2019.
The mechanisms through which livestock ownership is associated with childhood anaemia are contested. Using a cross-sectional, community-based survey of 300 households in southern Ghana, we determined the associations of household livestock ownership with anaemia among children aged 2-5 years. Potential mediating effects of animal-source food (ASF) consumption, microbial infections, and household food security were investigated. Data on each child's anaemia, malaria, and intestinal infections were collected for a subset of 221 households. Anaemia was defined as a haemoglobin (Hb) concentration <110 g/L. ASF consumption was measured as a count of the number of different ASF types consumed by each child in the week prior to the interview. Household food security was measured with a 15-item, pre-tested tool adapted from the USDA Household Food Security Core Module. The number of sheep and goats in aggregate was associated with higher odds of a child being anaemic (aOR (95% CI) = 1.10 (1.03, 1.17)). Households owning more free-range poultry had greater diversity of consumed ASFs among children (Coef. (95% C) = 0.02 (0.01, 0.03)). Owning more pigs was associated with higher odds that a household was food secure (1.05 (0.99, 1.12). We found no evidence that the child's ASF consumption mediated the association of livestock ownership with child anaemia, however,household food security mediated the association between household pig ownership and child anaemia. Overall, household ownership of livestock was associated with higher ASF consumption among children and improved household-level food security, yet also a higher odd of anaemia among those young children. The mechanisms leading to these seemingly counterintuitive relationships require further investigation.
家畜所有权与儿童贫血相关的机制存在争议。本研究使用加纳南部 300 户家庭的横断面社区调查，确定了家庭家畜所有权与 2-5 岁儿童贫血之间的关联。调查了动物源食品（ASF）消费、微生物感染和家庭粮食安全的潜在中介效应。为 221 户家庭中的一部分收集了每个孩子贫血、疟疾和肠道感染的数据。贫血定义为血红蛋白（Hb）浓度<110g/L。ASF 消费的衡量标准是每个孩子在访谈前一周内消费的不同 ASF 类型的数量。家庭粮食安全采用经过预测试的、来自美国农业部家庭粮食安全核心模块的 15 项工具进行衡量。羊和山羊的总数与儿童贫血的几率增加相关（优势比（95%置信区间）=1.10（1.03，1.17））。拥有更多散养家禽的家庭，儿童消费的 ASF 种类更多（系数（95%置信区间）=0.02（0.01，0.03））。拥有更多猪的家庭粮食安全的几率更高（1.05（0.99，1.12））。我们没有发现儿童 ASF 消费在畜主所有权与儿童贫血之间的关联中存在中介作用的证据，然而，家庭粮食安全在家庭养猪所有权与儿童贫血之间的关联中存在中介作用。总体而言，家庭拥有家畜与儿童 ASF 消费增加和家庭粮食安全水平提高有关，但也与幼儿贫血的几率增加有关。导致这些看似矛盾关系的机制需要进一步研究。
