Iron Deficiency Anemia in School Age Children in District Karak Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan

Abstract

The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in schoolgoing children. Both Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia have considerable adverse effect on human health. Among the different negative health concerns, including stunt development, less developed immunity, lower IQ level, no proper physical work capacity, more fatigue, maternal mortality rates, young ones born with low birth weight, birth complications and infant mortality rates are some of the remarkable health concerns posed by iron deficiency level. Our study sample was consisting of 420 school age children of both genders. The blood samples were collected in EDTA (Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) tubes from different school and health maternity centres by trained and veteran persons. Questionnaires were utilised for the data collection, at the time of blood samples collection. Hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrite (Hct), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Mean Corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), white blood cell and red blood cell (RBC)were determine by automatic hematological analyzer model Symex Ks-21 having two reagents, cell pack and Stromatolyser-wwt 500 ml. The total percentage of anemia recorded in school age children was 34.0%. In tehsil Banda Daud Shah, the incidence of anemia was high up to 43.6% while in tehsil Takhti Nasrati and Karak was 32.1% and 26.4% respectively. The percentage was higher in girls (38.9%) than in boys (31.0%). The anemia percentage was recorded high (55.8%) in lower socioeconomic family children, than middle class (32.2%) and upper class (17%). The percentage of anemic children was also high (40%) in age group of 10 -12 years. Pale skin was the most common symptom of anemia.

Effect of Lactoferrin Supplementation on Iron Deficiency Anemia in Primary School Children

“…ID and IDA had a remarkable adverse effect on children health. Negative effects includebut not limited to stunted development, low immunity, decrease IQ values, reduced capacity of physical activity, increased fatigue, poor psychomotor, cognitive power and school achievement [2] .…”

Prevalence of Anemia in School Age Children (SAC) of District Swabi, KPK, Pakistan

“…The individual whose Hb level was less than the standard level, a smear was prepared and observed under microscope. The low MCV and abnormal, small and pale RBC is microcytic anemia and consider iron deficiency anemia [7]. Table 3 shows clear picture of the children studied and investigated in the present report.…”

“…There are many causes of anemia but the common causes are the deficiency of essential nutrients as Iron, Vitamin B12 and Folic acid. Other factors include blood loss, repeated pregnancy in women, worm infection, hemolysis, suppression of red corpuscles synthesis by bone marrow and gastrointestinal blood loss [7] The iron deficiency causes microcytic anemia but folic acid, vitamin B12, hyperthyroidism and liver disease cause macrocytic anemia. Some other diseases like diarrhea, filariasis, and parasitic infection that cause blood loss also result in anemia.…”

Health Education to Reduce Helminthiasis: Deficits in Diets in Children and Achievement of Students of Elementary Schools at Pontianak, West Kalimantan

“…Children who at the time of school are in the anemic condition usually tend to be lousy or physically unfit and get easily drowsy and tired. As a result of conditions like this, children are lazy to take lessons and concentration and passion for learning decrease [14,15]. These conditions result in decreased learning achievement so that learning outcomes are below the average class.…”

“…Children with anemia have a lower index of psychomotor development than healthy children [14]. Generally, their school performance is lower than that of normal children [15,16].…”