Prevalennce of anaemia in primary school chidren of rural Vadodara

Abstract

Introduction: Anaemia is also a major public health problem in developing countries among school children. The prevalence among school age children ranges from 12-60% in the developing world. In school age children result of anaemia leads to resistance to disease, increased susceptibility of infection, poor cognitive development, poor school performance and reduced work capacity with impaired social and economic development of the country. Objectives: The broad objective was to assess the magnitude of Anaemia in primary school children in rural schools of Vadodara. Materials and Methods: A study was carried out in 4 government primary schools. Total 58 girls and 62 boys who gave written consent for the participation in the study were enrolled for the study. Haemoglobin estimation was carried out through standard method. Anaemia was classified using WHO classification (2011). Findings: The prevalence of anaemia among children was 56.6 % which was higher in girls (63.7%) as compared to boys (49.9%). It was found that mean haemoglobin levels were higher in elder boys age group (? 11.5 years). Result revealed that mean haemoglobin level decreased in elder age girls (? 11.5 years). Conclusion: The prevalence of Iron deficiency anaemia needs to be tackled on priority basis in government primary school children. Implementation of Mid day meal Programme and NIPI needs to strengthen to curtail Anaemia in children for Anaemia Mukt Bharat Keywords: Prevalence of anemia, Primary school children, Mid day meal programme, Micro nutrient deficiency .