title: Relationship between socioeconomic status and anemia prevalence in adolescent girls based on the fourth and fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We studied the relationship between socioeconomic status (SES), represented by household income, and the prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) among adolescent girls in Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  The samples were based on the data from a four-year (2008-2011) collection for the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1312 girls, age 10-18 years). The survey included demographic, anthropometric, biochemical and nutritional parameters. A multiple regression analysis after adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), red blood cell count, white blood cell count and red meat intake was performed. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin level lower than 11.5 g/dl for ages 10-11 years and 12.0 g/dl for ages 12-14 years. Iron deficiency was defined as serum ferritin level below 15 μg/l.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalences of anemia and IDA in Korean girls were 5.3 and 4.2%, respectively. Girls with anemia were older, taller, weighed more, had higher BMI, had higher portion of menarche experience and consumed less red meat than girls without anemia. Girls with higher income had lower anemia prevalence and consumed more iron and vitamins. Logistic regression analysis showed a decreasing trend in anemia prevalence as household income increased. Correlation analysis demonstrated that there is a relationship between household income and serum hemoglobin and ferritin levels (P=0.003 and P=0.026, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Higher SES leads to lower prevalence of anemia and IDA in Korean adolescent girls. This may be due to the fact that higher SES individuals consume more iron and vitamin C.
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: J Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, College of Medicine, Catholic University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: K-C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Public Health, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: J-H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: G E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Nam
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Yeo
authors.affiliation: College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: H G
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
authors.forename: B-J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Ko
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000740:Anemia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology; D001827:Body Height; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D004032:Diet; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008460:Meat; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012923:Social Class
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D005293:Ferritins