Antenatal care is associated with adherence to iron supplementation among pregnant women in selected low-middle-income-countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America & the Caribbean regions: Insights from Demographic and Health Surveys.

Anaemia is a global public health problem affecting 800 million women and children globally. Anaemia is associated with perinatal mortality, child morbidity and mortality, mental development, immune competence, susceptibility to lead poisoning and performance at work. The objective of this article is to identify whether antenatal care-seeking was associated with the uptake of iron supplementation among pregnant women, adjusting for a range of covariates. This article used data from the cross-sectional recent Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) of 12 countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America & the Caribbean regions. The individual-level data from 273,144 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) were analysed from multi-country DHS. Multiple Logistic regression analyses were conducted using Predictive Analytics Software for Windows (PASW), Release 18.0. Receiving at least four antenatal care visits was significantly associated with the consumption of 90 or more iron-containing supplements in 12 low and middle income countries across three regions after adjusting for different household and respondent characteristics, while mass media exposure was found to be a significant predictor in India and Indonesia. Antenatal care seems to be the most important predictor of adherence to iron intake in the selected countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Caribbean regions.

Social marketing improved the use of multivitamin and mineral supplements among resource-poor women in Bolivia.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that social marketing improves women's awareness and consumption of multivitamin and mineral supplements. DESIGN: Formative research and baseline and final surveys using a multistaged stratified cluster sample. SETTING: Department of Santa Cruz, Bolivia. PARTICIPANTS: Women 15 to 49 years old (n=1709 at baseline and n=1735 at final survey). INTERVENTION: Social marketing campaign using radio and television spots. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Awareness and use of multivitamins, including VitalDía, the brand promoted as part of this social marketing campaign. ANALYSIS: Cross-tabulations to assess changes over time in awareness and use of multivitamins. Logistic regression analyses to identify determinants of multivitamin use. RESULTS: The campaign increased women's awareness and use of multiple supplements, including VitalDía. Awareness of multiple supplements nearly doubled among women with 6 to 8 years of schooling, tripled among women with 4 to 5 years of education, and more than quadrupled among women with less than 4 years of schooling. After 9 months of social marketing, 11% of women had taken VitalDía one or more times, 7% had taken it at least once in the last 3 months, and 4% had used it one or more times in the last month. Improvements in the use of VitalDía were evident for women of all socioeconomic and educational levels, with the greatest increases occurring in the least advantaged groups. Additionally, women who had a positive perception of the benefits of multivitamins were 1.7 times (95% confidence interval 1.2-2.3; P <.01) more likely than women who did not have a positive perception to ever use VitalDía, once the effects of social class were adjusted. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Social marketing of multiple supplements reached resource-poor women and can be used to bridge gaps in access, improve awareness of supplementation as an option, and increase the likelihood that women will try supplements.