Iron Deficiency and Anaemia in Rural School Children in a Coastal Area of Morocco

Abstract

Iron deficiency anaemia is the major public health problem encountered in the world. In Children this trouble has deleterious consequences on the global health and weak cognitive development. This study aims to determine the prevalence of anaemia and iron deficiency and its association with socio-economic and anthropometric parameters of the Schoolchildren in a rural coastal region of Morocco. 295 students between 6 and 16 years old composed the study sample. The level of Haemoglobin was measured in a sub group of 280 school children. The iron status was determined by ferritin level in serum. A questionnaire was developed to collect information on the socio-economic and demographic status of the family such as the size of household the working status of parents and their level of education. The mean haemoglobin concentration was 12.41 g/dl in boys and 12 5 g/dl in girls whereas the mean seric ferritin level was 26 7 microg/l in boys and 27 9 microg/l in girls. The overall prevalence of anaemia was 12 2 % and iron deficiency was found in 20.4 %. Serum ferritin (SF) serum iron concentrations and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were significantly correlated with Hemoglobin There was an inversely significant relationship between education of the mother and anaemia in children (p=0.01) but not with gender nor parents employment. It is concluded that anaemia is relatively less prevalent in this study population. Further studies are needed to explore the dietary determinants of this situation. (authors)