Tracing the Socio-demographic Correlates of Anemia among Reproductive Age Women in Azad Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan

Anemia is an endemic health issue, particularly for women across low-income countries. Pakistaniwomen are more susceptible to develop anemia at a specific age of their life due to poverty, lowlevels of education, gender discrimination, unavailability of healthcare services, and poor hygienicconditions at the household level. Previous researches mainly focused on the clinical factors ofanemia and very little systematic research on socio-economic and demographic risk factors hasbeen pursued. This study is aimed at analyzing such risk factors for anemia among women ofreproductive age in the selected area of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan. A crosssectional field survey was conducted to gather data from 384 women having at least one child.Standard univariate and bivariate econometric techniques helped in qualifying the hypothesis thatanemia among women has been strongly associated with the socio-economic variables of familyincome and education while demographic variables of age at marriage, number of pregnancies, anddistance from health care facilities also played important role. The key policy message is thathealth facilities, economic self-sufficiency, and education may help in alleviating anemia amongvulnerable women.