Prevalence of anemia in children 6-59 months old in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil
Rev. panam. salud pública
;
10(2): 101-107, ago. 2001.
Artigo
em Inglês
| LILACS
| ID: lil-323817
RESUMO
Objetive. To determine the prevalence of anemia in children 6-59 months old in Pernambuco, a state in northeastern Brazil, so as to help guide health and nutrition policies there. Methods. In 1997 a representative sample of 777 young children had their hemoglobin concentration measured. The sampling process was in three stages. First, 18 municipalities were randomy selected to represent the stat and its three geographic areas (metropolitan region of Recife, urban interior, and rural interior). Next, using census list, 45 census sectors were randomly chosen. Finally, 777 children aged 6-59 months old were seleted. Blood was colected by venipuncture, and hemoglobin was measured with a portable homoglobinometer. In the analysis, prevalence was weighted to reflect the census age distribution. Results. The prevalence of anemia among children 6-59 months old was 40.9 for the state as awhole. Prevalence in the metropolitan region of Recife was 39.6, and it was 35.9 in the urban interior. The rural interior had the highest prevalence, 51.4. Prevalence was twices as high in children aged 6-23 months as among those 24-59 months old, 61.8 vs. 31.0 (x2=77.9,P0.001). The mean hemoglobin concentration in the younger and older age groups were 10.4g/dL (standard deviation (SD)=1.5) and 11.4g/dL (SD=1.4),respectively. There was no statically significant difference between the sexes in terms of prevalence. conclusions. This is the first statewide assessment of anemia prevalence among young children in Brazil. Given the very high prevalence of anemia among the children studied in Pernambuco, especially those in the age group of 6-23 months, public health interventions are needed
Texto completo:
DisponíveL
Índice:
LILACS (Américas)
Assunto principal:
Saúde Pública
/
Anemia
/
Ferro
Tipo de estudo:
Estudo de prevalência
/
Fatores de risco
País/Região como assunto:
América do Sul
/
Brasil
Idioma:
Inglês
Revista:
Rev. panam. salud pública
Assunto da revista:
Saúde Pública
Ano de publicação:
2001
Tipo de documento:
Artigo
Similares
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS