title: Iron deficiency anemia among Jewish and Arab infants at 6 and 12 months of age in Hadera, Israel.
abstract: Infants attending six Family Health Centers of the Israel Ministry of Health in various Jewish and Arab localities in the Hadera subdistrict were examined for hemoglobin levels at 6 and 12 months of age. The prevalence of anemia (hemoglobin less than 11 g/dl) among Jewish infants rose from a total of 44.7 to 60% from 6 to 12 months. For the Arab infants, the prevalence of anemia increased from a total of 43.7% at 6 months to 71.0% at 12. The prevalence of severe anemia (less than 10 g/dl) for the Jewish infants rose from 4.5 to 13.1% and for the Arab infants from 7.7 to 19.6%. Of the Jewish infants with a hemoglobin level less than 10 g/dl at 6 months, 50% were still less than 10 g/dl at 12 months. Of the Arab infants less than 10 g/dl at 6 months, 36.4% were still at that level at 12 months. The lack of routine iron supplementation as a preventive procedure and the routine use of cow's milk for infant feeding are the probable causes of this high prevalence of iron deficiency anemia.
mesh_terms: D000747:Anemia, Hypochromic / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D001724:Birth Weight; D002662:Child Health Services; D006293:Health Promotion; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007557:Israel; D007585:Jews; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D012423:Rural Health; D012529:Saudi Arabia / Q000208:ethnology; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins