The prevalence of anemia in children aged 6 to 12 months: a population-based study

Background: Anemia is one of the most important nutritional disorders among children and adolescent in Iran and developing countries. Despite the possibility of anemia prevention, there is a high proportion of this problem in school children and especially infants. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence rate of anemia in 6 to 12 months old children. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study that conducted between May 2016 and October 2016 in Tabas health centers, South Khorasan, Iran. In this study 911 infants aged 6 to 12 months were enrolled by census method. Demographic variables and all blood factors were collected through interviews and laboratory tests in Tabas health centers, respectively. In this study, cut-off point of <11 g/dl for hemoglobin was considered as anemia index. All Statistical analyses were done using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and Pearson correlation in SPSS software, version 22 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). P-value of 0.05 was considered as level of statistical significance. Results: The mean age of individuals was 9±1.5 months, the mean current weight and the mean weight at birth time were 8678±1112.1 g and 3090±467.9 g, respectively. According to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, the prevalence rate of anemia in Tabas City was estimated 37.1%. The prevalence rate of anemia in age groups based on hemoglobin, mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) indices had a significant decreasing trend (P=0.001). Prevalence rate of anemia in males and females was not significantly different (P=0.27). Moreover prevalence rate of anemia was higher in rural areas rather than urban areas (P=0.009). Conclusion: This is the first assessment of anemia prevalence among children in east of Iran. As a result of estimated prevalence of anemia, based on WHO definition, revealed moderate public health importance among infants aged 6 to 12 months old. The deceasing trend of anemia based on age groups indicates the importance of iron supplementation in Iran, especially in developing countries.