Abstract
Background: Anemia among children represents a major public health problem all over the world, and particularly in developing countries. The aim was to determine the prevalence of anemia in general, and microcytic hypochromic anemia in particular, among Saudi children aged 6 months to 5 years of age in Muhayel and also to compare the prevalence according to age and gender.
Subjects and Methods: This was a retrospective study to explore the prevalence of anemia among children in Muhayel, Aseer region which is located in the southwestern region of Saudi Arabia. The study was done in a government hospital. The study population included all children aged 6 months to 59 months seen in the emergency room (ER) and who underwent sampling for complete blood count for whatever the reason. Hemoglobin level (Hb), mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) were taken.
Results: The study included 1,033 children aged between 6 and 59 months with a mean of 27.81 +/- 13.9 months. More than half of them were males 683 (66.1%). The prevalence of anemia was 29.3%; mostly mild 254 (24.6%) or moderate 48 (4.6%). Severe anemia was observed only in 1 child representing 0.1% of the sample. Microcytic hypochromic anemia was observed among 36.0% of the study sample, based on the WHO cut of levels of MCV and MCH.
Conclusion: Anemia, particularly microcytic hypochromic anemia is relatively still a public health problem among children in Saudi Arabia, despite the improvement in socio-economic status. Further research is recommended for deep investigation of the underlying factors, particularly nutritional habits.