Abstract
Iron deficiency anemia is still common in children under five years of age and may impair their growth and cognitive development. Diarrhea is the second most common reason for seeking medical care for young children in Nepal. However, neither screening programs nor effective preventive measures for anemia and iron deficiencies are in place among children with diarrhea in many developing countries. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency and explore their associations with clinical, socioeconomic, and anthropometric parameters in Nepalese children. This was a cross-sectional study based on 1232 children, six to 35 months old, with acute diarrhea participating in a zinc supplementation trial. The mean (SD) hemoglobin was 11.2 g/dL (1.2). Anemia was found in 493 children (40%); this estimate increased to 641 (52%) when we adjusted for the altitude of the study area (hemoglobin <11.3 g/dL). One in every three children had depleted iron stores and 198 (16%) of the children had both depleted iron stores and anemia, indicating iron deficiency anemia. The prevalence of anemia among children presenting with acute diarrhea was high but the degree of severity was mainly mild or moderate. Iron deficiency explained less than half of the total anemia, indicating other nutritional deficiencies inducing anemia might be common in this population.
Highlights
Iron deficiency (ID) is still a common nutritional deficiency in developing countries responsible for more than 50% of total anemia cases in children under 5 [1]
ID is a major cause of nutritional anemia in developing countries, deficiencies of other nutrients like vitamin A, C, B9, B12, vitamin D, and zinc as well as toxicity of lead may cause anemia [18,19,20,21] and Hb alone is a poor predictor for detection of iron status [22,23]
This paper focuses on the prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency and explores their associations with socioeconomic and anthropometric parameters in children of 6–35 months old with acute diarrhea, who were taking part in a zinc intervention trial in Bhaktapur, Nepal during June 1998–September 2000
Summary
Iron deficiency (ID) is still a common nutritional deficiency in developing countries responsible for more than 50% of total anemia cases in children under 5 [1]. ID is a major cause of nutritional anemia in developing countries, deficiencies of other nutrients like vitamin A, C, B9, B12, vitamin D, and zinc as well as toxicity of lead may cause anemia [18,19,20,21] and Hb alone is a poor predictor for detection of iron status [22,23]. The prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency and explores their associations with socioeconomic and anthropometric parameters in children of 6–35 months old with acute diarrhea, who were taking part in a zinc intervention trial in Bhaktapur, Nepal during June 1998–September 2000. The main outcomes of this trial have been published elsewhere [25,26]
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