Coverage and adequacy of ferrous sulfate supplementation in the prevention of anemia among children treated at health centers of Florianopolis, Santa Catarina

IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH SOCIOECONOMIC VULNERABILITY

Objective:

To analyze the association of anemia with the socioeconomic vulnerability of preschoolers in public day care centers, in the city of Taubaté, SP, Brazil.

Methods:

This is a cross-sectional study with a probabilistic sample that analyzed 363 children assisted in public day care centres in low-income and high-income areas of Taubaté, SP, Brazil. The hemoglobin concentration (Hb), dependent variable, was obtained by digital puncture, considering anemic children with Hb concentration <11.0 g/dL. The independent variables such as socioeconomic and demographic conditions were collected by a semi-structured questionnaire.

Results:

The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia was 19.3% among preschoolers. Children from day care centers with high socioeconomic vulnerability had lower Hb concentration than those from a non-vulnerable area (p<0.05).

Conclusions:

The lower concentration of hemoglobin in preschoolers is associated with the location of day care centers in an area of socioeconomic vulnerability. Children attending these day care centers face adverse family conditions such as low income, working mothers, and mothers with low schooling, though they receive social benefits and monitoring by public health services.

Prevalence of Anemia in Children from Latin America and the Caribbean and Effectiveness of Nutritional Interventions: Systematic Review and Meta⁻Analysis

Anemia affects 1.62 billion people worldwide. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) comprise several developing countries where children are a population at risk. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the prevalence of anemia in this population. Electronic databases, reference lists, and websites of health ministries were searched until December 2018. Stratified analyses were performed using RevMan5.3 to estimate the overall prevalence of anemia in preschool and school-age children. The effectiveness of nutritional interventions was also evaluated. We included 61 studies from the 917 reviewed, which included 128,311 preschool- and 38,028 school-age children from 21 LAC countries. The number of anemic children was 32.93% and 17.49%, respectively, demonstrating a significant difference according to age (p < 0.01). No difference was observed by gender and only school-age children from low/very low socioeconomic status (SES) (25.75%) were more prone to anemia than those from middle SES (7.90%). It was not a concern in the Southern Cone but constituted a serious public health problem in the Latin Caribbean. Nutritional interventions reduced the prevalence from 45% to 25% (p < 0.01). Anemia is still a public health problem for children in LAC countries. National surveys should include school-age children. Further nutritional interventions are required to control anemia.

INADEQUACIES IN THE TREATMENT OF IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA AMONG CHILDREN REGISTERED IN THE NATIONAL PROGRAM OF IRON SUPPLEMENTATION IN FLORIANOPOLIS, SANTA CATARINA, BRAZIL

ABSTRACT Objective: to identify inadequacies in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia among children enrolled in the National Program of Iron Supplementation (PNSF) and treated at public primary health centers in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Method: a cross-sectional study was performed using secondary data obtained from the InfoSaúde system. Information was obtained on the ferrous sulfate dose prescribed for treating iron deficiency anemia, as well as demographic and anthropometric data of all children enrolled in the program in 2010. STATA 11.0 software was used in the analysis and p-values ≤ 0.05 were considered significant. Results: sixty-eight (68) of the 834 children enrolled in the program in 2010 were diagnosed as anemic; 58 of whom received an indication to use ferrous sulfate. Conclusion: children under six months of age (65.1%), living in economically deprived areas (66.7%) and with a height/age Z-score ≥ -1.0 (52.1%) were more prone to receive inadequate supplement dosage (<3 mg/kg/day). The results are relevant to educate health professionals about their role in effectively treating iron deficiency anemia.

Prevention and Treatment of Anemia in Infants through Supplementation, Assessing the Effectiveness of Using Iron Once or Twice Weekly

BACKGROUND

The objective of this study was to compare the effect of once weekly iron supplementation (IS) versus twice weekly, on hemoglobin (Hb) levels and anemia prevalence.

METHODS

In this cluster-randomized clinical trial study, we evaluated infants aged 6-18 months. Length of intervention: 16 weeks. Infants were cluster randomized to either 25 mg elemental iron once weekly (Group-A) or twice weekly (Group-B). Primary outcome variables were change in Hb concentration and anemia prevalence. Two biochemical evaluations were performed to determine Hb concentrations, before and after intervention.

RESULTS

For Group-A, at baseline, mean Hb concentration was 10.8 ± 1.18 g/dl and after intervention 11.2 ± 1.07 g/dl,p = 0.12; anemia prevalence was 52.5% at baseline and 37.5% after intervention,p = 0.18; Group-B, mean baseline Hb was 10.7 ± 1.04 g/dl, and 11.3 ± 0.91 g/dl after intervention,p = 0.002; anemia prevalence reduced from 57.9 to 36.8%.

CONCLUSIONS

Both once and twice weekly IS increased mean Hb concentration; however, twice weekly supplementation provided more significant results.