CONTINUATION OF DECLINE IN PREVALENCE OF ANEMIA IN LOW-INCOME CHILDREN - THE VERMONT EXPERIENCE

Objective: To examine whether the prevalence of childhood anemia in wh ite low-income children has continued to decline into the 1990s. Desig n: An examination of 14 years of hematocrit data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance Syst em in Vermont from 1981 through 1994. Setting: Public health clinics f or the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children in Vermont. The same screening method and criteria for identi fying and defining anemia and the same quality-assurance procedures we re used during the 14 years. The program eligibility criteria were als o consistent except for part of 1991 and 1992. Main Outcome Measure: T he annual prevalence of anemia. Results: Between 1981 and 1994, the pr evalence of anemia halved (from 7.9% to 3.6%, P < .001). For children aged 6 to 24 months, this decline was from 7.8%, to 4.6% (P < .001); f or children aged 2 to 5 years, the decline was from 7.9% to 3.1% (P < .001). Conclusion: The decline in the prevalence of anemia among low-i ncome children observed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevent ion's Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System up to the mid-1980s has continued into the 1990s in Vermont. This finding indicates that iron nutrition in infancy and early childhood is still improving.