title: [Distribution of anemia among preschool children from the semi-arid region of Bahia]
abstract: The objective of this survey was to determine the prevalence of anemia and potential determinants thereof in 754 children from urban areas of seven small towns in the semi-arid region of Bahia. Hemoglobin was measured in 745 children 1 to 72 months of age. For the 6-to-72 month-old group, hemoglobin < 11.0 g/dl was considered anemia (following WHO recommendations) whereas <9.5 g/dl was considered severe anemia. The same cutoffs were used for children under 6 months, which are the same ones used in clinical-hematology. A mean hemoglobin of 12.1 g/dl was found, distributed differently according to age groups (p=0.001). The study found prevalences of 22.2 % for anemia and 5.8% for severe anemia, respectively. Occurrence of anemia varied significantly with age (p=0.001); the highest prevalence was 50.0% in children 12 to 23 months of age, followed by 29.9% in children below 12 months. The association of anemia with mother's education (controlled for age) and per capita family income was not statistically significant.
authors.affiliation: Escola de Nutrição, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, 40140-150, Brasil.
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Assis
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Martins
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.initials: DQ
authors.lastname: Amorim
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Morris
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Barreto