IRON-DEFICIENCY IN MASSACHUSETTS COMMUNITIES - SOCIOECONOMIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC RISK-FACTORS AMONG CHILDREN

Objectives. This study examined the association between community rate s of iron deficiency in children and sociodemographic characteristics of Massachusetts communities. Methods. Between April 1990 and March 19 91, 238 173 Massachusetts children 6 through 59 months of age were scr eened, iron deficiency was defined as an erythrocyte protoporphyrin co ncentration of 0.62 mu mol/L or higher and a blood lead level of less than 1.2 mu mol/L. Sociodemographic data were obtained from the 1990 U S Census. Results. Five percent of communities had iron deficiency rat es greater than 13.9 per 100 children screened. Iron deficiency rate w as positively associated with proportion of Southeast Asians (odds rat io [OR] = 1.10, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.08, 1.12), proportion of Hispanics (OR = 1.008, 95% CI = 1.002, 1.013), and high school inc ompletion (OR = 1.028, 95% CI = 1.020, 1.035). Similarly, an examinati on of three Massachusetts cities indicated that the iron deficiency ra te was higher for children with Southeast Asian (relative risk [RR] = 3.6, 95% CI = 3.3, 3.8) and Hispanic (RR = 1.6, 95% CI = 1.5, 1.8) sur names than for all other children. Conclusions. Wide variation exists in iron deficiency rates for children in Massachusetts communities. Co mmunity iron deficiency was associated with low socioeconomic status a nd high proportions of Southeast Asians and Hispanics.