The Effect of Dietary Habits and Socioeconomic Status on the Prevalence of Iron Deficiency in Children of Northern Greece

Abstract

Backround: Despite encouraging reports concerning the declining prevalence of iron deficiency, this easily preventable disorder is still an existing problem in presumably developed regions. Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of iron deficiency and relevant anemia in children residing in Northern Greece and to study possible associations. Design: 3,100 children aged 8 months to 15 years were evaluated. Socioeconomic status was determined based on the parents’ profession and place of residence. Nutrition habits were also evaluated. Results: The incidence of iron deficiency was found to be 14% and that of iron deficiency anemia was 2.9%, with a higher prevalence in children younger than 2 years of age. The place of residence was the most significant factor in relation to the development of iron depletion in the children studied. Additional independent factors were revealed to be breast-feeding, meat-containing meal consumption and the consumption of non-home-cooked meals. Conclusion: Iron deficiency remains prevalent in Northern Greece, mainly affecting the vulnerable toddler group. Nutritional iron deficiency is still a severe public health problem even in what are considered to be developed regions. An improvement of dietary habits and an upgrading of semiurban areas should contribute substantially to decreasing the prevalence of iron depletion in Greek children.

Infant fortified cereals (IFC) in a Syrian paediatric population

“…The percentage of consumption of IFC seems good, but quite different from the results obtained in a study performed in Northern Greece, where iron deficiency remains prevalent in correlation with low socioeconomic status of the families [9].…”

Iron Intake and Status of Children Aged 6-36 Months in Europe: A Systematic Review

“…This is, at least partly, due to the problem that no consensus exists on the criteria for the diagnosis of ID and in different studies different cut-off values were used to define ID. For example, a number of studies used the stricter cut-off level for SF of 10 µg/l [32,52,53,56,63,66] to define iron deficiency (vs. only two studies that used a higher cut-off level [59,61]). Nevertheless, the results confirm that ID is common in countries in Europe (table 2).…”

“…Twenty-two studies reported on ID prevalence estimates [24,32,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67], of which 15 studies showed results for infants (6-12 months of age) [24,32,48,49,50,51,52,55,57,59,60,61,63,64,67]. …”

“…The intake of >400 ml of cow's milk per day occurred significantly and more frequently in children with ID than in those without ID [67]. Other studies including children conducted in Albania [53], Greece [56], Iceland [58] and the United Kingdom [62] found similar prevalence rates of ID from 27 to 48%. However, three other studies performed in 13 to 24 month old children from the United Kingdom reported ID prevalence rates of only 3 to 8%, using similar or even stricter definitions of ID [32,65,66].…”

“…Reported prevalence rates were considerably higher in Eastern European countries. In Estonia [49], Greece [56] and in two studies performed in Turkey [52,68], the prevalence of IDA was 9 to 16%, and estimated prevalence rates reached up to 50% in Albania [53] and in cow's milk-fed infants in Turkey [51] (table 2). In the EURO-Growth study, a study in which IDA was assessed among 12-month-old infants in 11 European areas (Athens, Bilbao, Budapest, Dublin, Madrid, Naples, Porto, Rostock, Santiago, Umeå and Vienna) [63], IDA prevalence was on average 2.3% and ranged from 0 to 12% between study centres.…”