PREVALANCE OF IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA IN SCHOOL GOING CHILDREN IN LAHORE CITY
Sanobia Manzoor*, Shamim Akhtar and Tahira Shaheen
ABSTRACT
A cross-sectional study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in school children aged 6 to 18 years, who live in the Lahore City. The study sample consisted of 144(49.7%) male students, and 146 (50.3 %) female students. Complete blood count (CBC) was performed and blood samples with main corpuscular volume (MCV) value less than 80um (FL) were subjected to serum iron test. The prevalence of iron deficiency was 26.7% (12.7% with anemia, and 14% without anemia). The prevalence of iron deficiency among females was 30.5%, and among males was (21.6%). Iron deficiency was apparent in all studied age groups. The prevalence of 32.4% was observed among the age group 6-8 years, 35.3% among age group 9-11 years, 25.9% among 12-13 years and 12.1% among 14 years old. There was no clear link between family size and iron deficiency. With respect to prevalence of iron deficiency and family income, no significant difference was observed (24.9% low income; 28.1% with medium and 30.2% with high income). To effectively face these deficiencies it is necessary to think about the possibilities and cost effectiveness of fortifying foodstuffs (floor, salt, milk) and it is essential to carry out nutritional education activities to improve children and parents awareness and knowledge regarding iron deficiency anemia and its consequence.
Keywords: .
[Full Text Article]
Impact Factor : 6.044
