Prevalence of Anaemia in Tribal School Children

Abstract

Tribal population is about 13 per cent of total population of Rajasthan and it is the most unprevileged section of society. Therefore, tribal schools children aged 6-12 years from government schools of villages covered by Kun Primary Health Centre (PHC), Dhariyawad block of Udaipur region, Rajasthan were studied to assess the prevalence of anaemia. A total of 206 children from five schools were examined for clinical signs and symptoms of anaemia. Blood haemoglobin level of clinically anaemic children was analysed using digital haemoglobinometer by cyanmethaemoglobin method. Dietary intake was also noted by 24 hours recall method using food models and standardised bowls set. Nutrient intake was calculated by food composition tables and then compared with RDA (ICMR, 1990). SES was assessed by SES scale of Pareek and Trivedi (1963). Results revealed that 61 per cent children were from low socio-economic status families and remaining 39 per cent from low middle class. Clinical examination showed that 95.1 per cent children were clinically anaemic. Clinical signs such as pale conjuctiva (77.6 %), flat and plate nails (24.3 %), atrophic lingual papillae (12.4 %) and koilonychia. (44.3 %) were observed among the school children. Blood haemoglobin revealed that more than half (60.2 %) of these children were moderately anaemic (7-10 g/dl/), 32.9 per cent were severely anaemic (<7 g/dl) and 0.6 per cent mildly anaemic (10-11.5 g/dl). On the whole, 93.7 per cent children were suffering from different forms of anaemia. The results show high prevalence of anaemia in the tribal school children of Udaipur region suggesting that an intervention to cure and prevent anaemia may be started for school children also.