Anemia in Mexican women: a public health problem.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study is to quantify the prevalence and distribution of anemia among women of childbearing age (12 to 49 years) participating in the 1999 National Nutrition Survey (NNS-1999).


METHODS
The survey had a probabilistic design and was representative at the national level, of urban and rural areas and four regions: North, South, Center, and Mexico City. Hemoglobin concentration was determined in capillary blood samples using a portable photometer (HemoCue), in 17,194 women, 697 of whom were pregnant.


RESULTS
The overall prevalence of anemia was 27.8% in pregnant women and 20.8% in non-pregnant women. Higher prevalences were observed in rural as compared to urban areas, both in pregnant (28.0% vs 27.7%) and non-pregnant (22.6% vs 20.0%) women, but the differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Women in the South had the greatest prevalence (23.2%), followed by those in the North (20.9%), Center (20.6%), and Mexico City (16.4%). Non-pregnant indigenous women had a prevalence of 24.8%, while in-non-indigenous women the prevalence was 20.4%.


CONCLUSIONS
Anemia in women of childbearing age is a growing public health problem that justifies the implementation of interventions for its prevention and control. The English version of this paper is available too at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html.
Shamah-Levy
Teresa
T
Centro de Investigación en Nutrición y Salud, Departamento de Vigilancia de la Nutrición, Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública, Avenida Universidad 655, colonia Santa María Ahuacatitlán 62508 Cuernavaca, Morelos, México. tshamah@correo.insp.mx
Villalpando
Salvador
S
Rivera
Juan A
JA
Mejía-Rodríguez
Fabiola
F
Camacho-Cisneros
Martha
M
Monterrubio
Eric A
EA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D011247:Pregnancy; D015995:Prevalence; D011634:Public Health