Anemia among School Children in a Rural Area in Kollam District, Kerala
Abstract
Introduction: Anemia is the world’s second leading cause of disability and thus one of the most serious global public health problems.1 Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia. Iron deficiency anemia affects aerobic fitness, endurance capacity and efficiency of work.9 It has adverse impacts on cognition by a decrease in the activity of iron containing brain enzymes.10 Iron deficiency is also associated with decreased phagocytosis, decreased response to cytokines and mitogens, decreased cell mediated immunity and suppressed skin test response.11 Iron deficiency has been linked to behavioral and learning problems among children and adolescents.12 All these factors may adversely affect learning and scholastic performance of school going children.
Objectives: Properly conducted studies focusing on prevalence of anemia among school children is lacking from the state of Kerala. The current study included secondary data analysis from a health project for screening all school children for anemia.
Materials and Methods: The screening was done during January- March 2013. Hemoglobin was tested for all school children studying in the classes from 1 to XII, from all the 17 schools in the area. Anemia status was decided as per WHO guidelines; less than 11.5g/dl for children less than12 years; less than 12 g/dl for girls from 12 to 18yrs and boys less than 14 years and less than 13 g/dl for boys from 15 to 18 yrs of age. Severe anemia included hemoglobin less than 7g/dl and moderate anemia included hemoglobin between 7.1 and 10g/ dl.16 Age group 6-11 years was considered as primary school age and 12-17 years as secondary school age for statistical purposes.
The data was entered using the software Epi Info 2001 version 3.2.2 and analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for Microsoft windows version 12. Descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate analysis for factors associated with anemia was done.
Conclusion: A properly conducted research study on the prevalence of anemia among adolescents in Kerala using a standardized technique for hemoglobin estimation, along with estimation of iron stores, is the matter of the hour. Such a study will help to formulate policies on iron supplementation programs at schools and also it would form a baseline for evaluating the anemia control interventions.
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