Iron Deficiency Anaemia Among Students of Two Primary Schools at Different Socioeconomic Conditions in Malatya, Turkey*

Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disorder in the world. To determine the prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and associated social and nutritional factors, two primary school students from different socioeconomic status in Malatya province center, in Turkey, were evaluated by using hematocrit and peripheral blood smears. Total of 1633 students of two primary schools -Haniminciftligi and Gazi Primary Schoolswere studied. Prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia was 4.2 % among the students of the urban school and 13.8 % among the students of the shunty town school (p<0.001). For the urban school students, there was a statistically significant difference among anaemia and age group, maternal education, health insurance and milk consumption. For the shunty town school students, only statistical significance was established between anaemia and age group. These students in the age group 11-18 years showed 2.74 times higher estimated risk of IDA compared to the ones 10 years of age or less. The estimated risk of IDA increased significantly with low levels of maternal education (O.R=2.99). Students with low family income had a 1.75 times greater risk of IDA than those with high family income. The wide-scale nutrition education should target mothers and young adolescents in shunty town and rural areas. These education programmes should focus on good eating habits. We suggest that an important factor for preventing and treating anaemia and other nutritional diseases is improving the socieconomic status.