RESUMO
Objective@#To understand the current situation and trends of anemia among kindergarten children in urban area of Suzhou from 2018 to 2022, so as to provide a theoretical basis for prevention and intervention in anemia among kindergarten children.@*Methods@#From March 2023, a total of 24 178 person times of children from 59 kindergartens selected by random number table method were enrolled, and their physical examination data from 2018 to 2022 were collected, including hemoglobin (Hb), height, gender, weight. The period of 2018-2019 was defined as before the COVID-19 epidemic, and period of 2020-2022 was defined as the COVID-19 epidemic. Data were analyzed using the Mann Whitney U test, χ 2 test and Spearman s correlation analysis.@*Results@#From 2018 to 2019, the M ( P 25 ， P 75 ) of Hb levels of children in nursery, middle, and senior class were 118 (112, 129), 120 (112, 132) and 122 (113, 134)g/L, respectively, which were higher than that of during 2020-2022 [116(110, 123), 117(111, 124) , 119(112, 126)g/L, Z =-10.7, -12.7, -12.9, P <0.05]. A total of 4 584 person times of children were anemic, with a detection rate of 19.0%. The overall anemia detection rate of kindergarten children during 2018-2019 was lower than that in 2020-2022 (15.3% vs 20.7%, χ 2=100.8, P <0.05). The anemia detection rate of kindergarten children in 2022 (24.5%) was higher than that in 2020 (20.6%) and in 2021 (17.0%) ( χ 2=93.9, P <0.05). The anemia prevalence of children in the nursery, middle, and senior class were 13.9%, 14.7% and 17.1% during 2018-2019, 19.3%, 15.9% and 26.6% during 2020-2022, and 17.6%, 15.5% and 23.6% during 2018-2022, respectively ( χ 2=10.7, 204.6, 186.8, P <0.01). There was no statistically significant correlation between Hb values and body mass index (BMI) in boys and girls with anemia, and all children in kindergarten ( r=0.03, 0.03, 0.09, P ＞0.05).@*Conclusion@#The prevalence of anemia among kindergarten children in the urban area of Suzhou is relatively high. The COVID-19 pandemic may have increased the risk of anemia among children.