PREVALENCE AND ETIOLOGY OF NUTRITIONAL ANEMIAS IN EARLY-CHILDHOOD IN AN URBAN SLUM

The present study was carried out to find out the prevalence and etioi ogy of nutritional anaemia among preschool children from an urban slum . Randomly selected 300 children aged 3 months - 3 yr were analysed ov er a Dried of one year for estimating prevalence of nutritional anaemi a. Prevalence was also assessed by the rise in haemoglobin after 8 wk of haematinic supplementation in 159 of the 300 subjects. Ninety anaem ic children were evaluated for the etiology of anaemia. Prevalence of anaemia, as judged by WHO recommended 'cut-off value of haemoglobin < 11 g/dl, was 76 per cent while comparable value of 74.8 per cent was d erived by response to haematinic supplementation Pure iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) was detected in 41.4 per cent (37/90) of anaemic childre n. Vitamin B-12 deficiency alone or in combination with iron was diagn osed in 14.4 and 22.2 per cent anaemic children respectively. Similarl y folate deficiency, IDA with infection and anaemia of chronic disease s (ACD) was diagnosed in 2.2, 3.3 and 12.2 per cent cases respectively . Childhood anaemia continues to be a significant public health proble m in preschoolers and iron deficiency is bg hr the commonest nutrition al cause of anaemia. Vitamin B-12 deficiency per se or in combination with iron is an important yet not commonly recognised cause of anaemia s in preschool children in the community.