Abstract
Introduction: The term ‘nutritional anaemia’ encompasses all pathological conditions in which the blood hemoglobin concentration drops to an abnormally low level, due to a deficiency in one or several nutrients. The main nutrients involved in the synthesis of hemoglobin are iron, folic acid, and vitamin B12. Objective: To study the prevalence of nutritional anaemia in paediatric age group. Methodology: A cross sectional study was undertaken in children with nutritional anaemia attending department of paediatrics, tertiary care hospital, Bangalore during the period January 2016 to December 2016. Results: Out of the 167 children studied, 86 children belonged to the age group of 6 year to 14 year and 59 children belong to 6 month to 6 year age group and 22 children belongs to 14 year to 18 year age group. Majority were males and accounted for 88 of the subjects with females accounting for 79. Majority (64 cases) belonged to class iv (upper lower), with 50 cases belonging to class iii (lower middle) socio-economic status according to modified kuppuswamy classification. Majority were vegetarians constituting 101 cases and the rest 66 cases belong to non-vegetarians. Conclusion: Anaemia needs to be immediately attended to. Strategies and documents endorse this need. WHO / UNICEF / UNU strongly advocate that when there is a prevalence of anaemia above 40%, a universal supplementation is required and it is not cost-effective to screen children for anaemia.
Highlights
The term ‘nutritional anaemia’ encompasses all pathological conditions in which the blood hemoglobin concentration drops to an abnormally low level, due to a deficiency in one or several nutrients
Out of the 167 children studied, 86 children belonged to the age group of 6 year to 14 year and59 children belong to 6 month to 6 year age group and 22 children belongs to 14 year to 18 year age group
Out of the 167 children studied, 86 children belonged to the age group of 6 year to 14 year and 59 children belong to 6 months to 6 year age group and 22 children belongs to 14 year to 18 year age group
Summary
The term ‘nutritional anaemia’ encompasses all pathological conditions in which the blood hemoglobin concentration drops to an abnormally low level, due to a deficiency in one or several nutrients. Objective: To study the prevalence of nutritional anaemia in paediatric age group. Methodology: A cross sectional study was undertaken in children with nutritional anaemia attending department of paediatrics, tertiary care hospital, Bangalore during the period January 2016 to December 2016. Majority (64 cases) belonged to class iv (upper lower), with 50 cases belonging to class iii (lower middle) socio-economic status according to modified kuppuswamy classification. Majority were vegetarians constituting 101 cases and the rest 66 cases belong to nonvegetarians. The main nutrients involved in the synthesis of hemoglobin are iron, folic acid, and vitamin B12. Iron deficiency is by far the first cause of nutritional anaemia worldwide. The focus in this article is on Iron-deficiency anaemia in children
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
