الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Iron deficiency anemia and iron deficiency without anemia are common nutritional problems in pediatric age groups worldwide. It has been estimated that approximately 50% of anemia is due to iron deficiency (ID), despite current nutritional recommendations and the interventions performed in many countries to reduce it. Iron deficiency (ID) and its more severe form, iron-deficiency anemia (IDA) can lead to impaired cognitive, motor and behavioral development in children and adverse pregnancy outcomes. Therefore, early and accurate detection of ID in childhood is a priority. So, our study was aiming to estimate the prevalence of iron deficiency and its associations with anthropometric status in children aged from 6 months to 11 years. This study included 200 healthy term infants and children, 100 of them before 5 years and the others after 5 years, who were determined by history, clinical examination, and anthropometric measurement as (weight, height and BMI) which applied on z score, then hemoglobin, S ferritin and CRP were done for all. from our results, the prevalence of Iron deficiency among all included children was 21%. 27.5%, 25% and 16% of children aged from 6 months to 2years, >2 to 5years and >5 to 11years respectively. While the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia was 30.5%, the majority was in children aged from 6m to 2 years which represents 57.5%. 18. 3% and 27% in children aged > 2 to 5years and >5 to 11years respectively. Thus, there was a significant association between age groups in all including children, height for age in children aged from 6m to 5 Summary 89 years and BMI for age in children aged >5 years to 11 years and iron status, while there was no significant association between weight for age and weight for length /height for age and iron status. The highest prevalence of ID and IDA which was reported in children aged 6m to ≤ 2y could be attributed to that the first two years of life is a period of rapid growth with an increased iron requirement, therefore risk of ID and IDA is increased in this age. Moreover, factors such as: exclusive or prolonged breastfeeding without iron supplementation, inappropriate weaning with iron rich food and recurrent illnesses increase the chance of young children developing ID and IDA. So, early weaning with complementary iron fortified foods or iron supplements beyond 4 months of age was recommended, which is an important step in the prevention of anemia in early infancy and childhood. |