Status of anemia among children under 5 years of age in the economically less developed rural areas from the 6 western provinces of China, in 2009 / 中华流行病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To analyze the status of anemia among children under 5 years of age in the economically less developed rural areas from 6 western provinces of China in 2009. Methods 8141 study subjects were from the program-‘Study on Appropriate Technology of Children Under-nutrition Improvement in Poor Rural Areas'. Results In 2009, the prevalence of anemia among children under 5 years of age in the above said rural areas from 6 western provinces was 24.1％. The prevalence of anemia among male children was much higher than that among female children. The peak of anemia prevalence( 38.5％ ) was among children of 6-11 months. The prevalence of anemia decreased along with the increase of age. Conclusion Results from the study demonstrated that anemia among the preschool children was a public health problem in poor rural areas of western China, Improving the knowledge on reasonable feeding seemed a better way for the prevention and control of anemia plus providing complementary nutrients sprinkle to the affected children.