Prevalence of anemia in under five-year-old children in a children's hospital in Recife, Brazil

Abstract

IntroductionAnemia is a nutritional problem of global importance. It is estimated that at least one-third of the population has been at one time anemic.ObjectiveTo evaluate the prevalence of anemia and associated factors in patients of a children's hospital in Recife.MethodsA cross-sectional study was developed involving 595 male and female children aged from 6 to 59 months old, who were hospitalized in 2007.ResultsChildren with a hemoglobin concentration less than 11 g/dL were considered anemic. The relationship between studied variables and anemia was evaluated by Poisson regression analysis. There was a 56.6% prevalence of anemia (95% CI: 46.6-54.6). Anemia was significantly correlated with low weight (Prevalence ratio - PR = 1.39; 95% CI: 1.18-1.64), young age (PR = 2.01; 95% CI: 1.57-2.56) and a diagnosis of acute lower respiratory disease (PR = 1.57; 95% CI: 1.27-1.96).ConclusionThe high prevalence of anemia suggests that it may contribute as a causal factor for hospitalization, especially because the period of hospitalization was short and the patient was likely to be anemic at the time of admission. This study stresses the importance of evaluating the overall nutritional status of patients, including their ingestion of microelements. This is especially important in children, because of their greater susceptibility to anemia. Measures directed at the prevention and control of anemia, including increased coverage of supplementation and fortification programs are strongly recommended.

Correlation between maternal and childhood VitB12, folic acid and ferritin levels

“…We did not look for any neural tube defects in these children. Low folic acid levels were significantly correlated with low Vit B12 levels and their interrelationship has been documented 20. Vit B12 can be low in infants secondary to mother levels and manifests itself from 2-12 months as failure to thrive with sometimes faltering head centiles and neuro-developmental delay.…”

Prevalence and factors associated with anaemia among children aged 6 to 59 months in Namutumba district, Uganda: a cross- sectional study

“…Both stunting and anaemia (IDA) may be caused by malnutrition, and thus follow a similar causal pathway that is; feeding children less than four times a day and low dietary diversity [9, 25–28]. Both anaemia and stunting may result from failure to meet micronutrient requirements, including iron [29, 30]. Although the food consumption score was not significantly associated with anaemia, there was a high proportion of children with borderline and poor food consumption score with anaemia than those who had an acceptable food consumption score.…”

Prevalence and Severity of Anaemia Among Hospitalised Children Aged 6-59 Months

“…In other studies also, there was no statistically significant difference in terms of gender with anaemia affecting boys and girls equally. 11,15 Another important observation we found was anaemia was predominantly seen in malnourished children. 69% of very underweight and 60% of underweight children was found to be anaemic.…”

“…The length of hospital stay may be related to other factors such as the severity of the disease, presence of other complications and care. 15 In our study, although the length of the hospital stay was not significantly associated with anaemia, it is possible that anaemia can aggravate the primary disease, thereby prolonging duration of hospital stay.…”

“…14 The reasons for high prevalence of anaemia in children are increased iron requirements due to rapid growth, early weaning, low availability of foods rich in iron and dietary monotony. 15 The proportion of mild, moderate and severe anaemia in our study was 28.7 %, 25.3% and 2.1% respectively. We found mild-to-moderate anaemia was noted in majority of cases which is in accordance with the study done by Saba F et a l. 12 In our study, the prevalence of severe anaemia was significantly low.…”