Iron deficiency anaemia among pregnant Arab women in Kuwait

ABSTRACT

A cross-sectional study was conducted by the Nutrition Unit, Ministry of Public Health, on 1582 pregnant Arab women in the age group of 14-45 years for the assessment of their haemoglobin status. The overall prevalence of anaemia [Hb, Cone. prevalence of anaemia was found lower among Kuwaiti pregnant women than the other Arab women, being 36.8% and 43.9% respectively. The mean haemoglobin concentration was found to be 112 g/L for the total sample. The value for Kuwaiti pregnant women was 114 g/L and that for the other Arab women was 111 g/L. The difference was found to be statistically significant [P prevalence of anaemia was greater the more advanced the gestation and that anaemia was of higher prevalence among multipara than among primigravida. These trends were observed for both Kuwaiti and other pregnant Arab women