Anemia among adolescents

To determine the prevalence of anemia in a group of apparently healthy school adolescents selected from 2 distinct socio-economic areas [SEAs] in Baghdad; and to assess the importance of diet and some other factors which could be relevant in the epidemiology of anemia in adolescents. A random sample of 1051 adolescents were included in the present study, 46% of them [487 adolescents] were from Al-Mansoor area for high socio-economic area [HSEA] and 54% of them [564 adolescents] were from Al-Horya area for low socio-economic area [LSEA] in Baghdad, Iraq. Collection of data was carried out during the period between November 1996 until the end of April 1997. Hemoglobin concentration and packed cell volume levels were determined. Dietary intake of iron, calories, protein and Vitamin C were estimated. The prevalence of anemia among adolescents in HSEA was 12.9% compared with 17.6% in LSEA. Hemoglobin concentration in males was significantly correlated with age and dietary iron intake while in females it was correlated significantly with years of education of father and mother, number of pads and age at menarche. Anemia among adolescents was found to be a health problem of moderate severity

Effects of exposure to heat on male reproductive functions in glass factory employees

In a pilot study, 149 heat-exposed male glass factory employees and 258 randomly selected individuals from the same geographical area [not exposed] were interviewed as to the presence of primary infertility or children with congenital abnormalities. The prevalence per cent of primary infertility in the exposed group was 2 compared to 5.4 in the un-exposed. On the other hand, the prevalence of individuals who have children with congenital abnormalities in the exposed group was 6% compared to 4.3% in the un-exposed group. The commonest type of congenital abnormalities in the affected children of the exposed group was cardiac septal defect [44.4%], while no one of the comparison group had it. Abnormalities in the children of the exposed group had a male to female ratio of 2:1 while in the un-exposed group the ratio was 0.5:1. We can conclude as far as our results indicated that no hazard has been detected in terms of infertility but a slight increase in the risk of developing congenital abnormalities in the heat-exposed group should attract attention