IRON DEFICIENCY ANEMIA

PREVALENCE IN CHILDREN OF LAHORE

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine prevalence of iron
deficiency anemia in children of Lahore. Study Design: Cross sectional survey. Setting:
Hospitals in different areas of Lahore. Period: 3 months. Methodology: A total sample of three
hundred and sixty children was taken from different areas of Lahore. Simple random sampling
technique was used. Data collection was done by using a cross sectional survey. An informed
consent was taken from the parents of children selected for including in the study and using
their data for research purpose. The complete demographic information like name, age, sex,
address was obtained. Venous blood samples were obtained for analysis of their hemoglobin
(Hb) level. All the data collected was entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 20. Results:
A total of 360 children were selected for the study. The mean age of respondents was 9.87 ±
2.67. Among all subjects there were 158(43.89%) male and 202 (56.1%) were female patients.
The mean Hb in all subjects was 9.82 ± 3.46. The overall prevalence of iron deficiency anemia
was 224(62.2%). Among anemic patients there 101 (45%) male and 123 (55%) female patients
in this study, we found no significant association between anemia and gender, p-value >0.05.
Conclusion: Prevalence of iron deficiency anemia is considerably higher in children of Lahore
under study. We should take some defensive measure to cope with it as mathematical deficiency
affect children’s health, mental and physical activities.