Prevalence of anemia in children 6-59 months old in the state of Pernambuco, Brazil
Prevalencia de la anemia en niños de 6 a 59 meses en el estado de Pernambuco, Brasil
Rev. panam. salud pública; 10 (2), 2001
Publication year: 2001
Objetive. To determine the prevalence of anemia in children 6-59 months old in Pernambuco, a state in northeastern Brazil, so as to help guide health and nutrition policies there. Methods. In 1997 a representative sample of 777 young children had their hemoglobin concentration measured. The sampling process was in three stages. First, 18 municipalities were randomy selected to represent the stat and its three geographic areas (metropolitan region of Recife, urban interior, and rural interior). Next, using census list, 45 census sectors were randomly chosen. Finally, 777 children aged 6-59 months old were seleted. Blood was colected by venipuncture, and hemoglobin was measured with a portable homoglobinometer. In the analysis, prevalence was weighted to reflect the census age distribution. Results. The prevalence of anemia among children 6-59 months old was 40.9 for the state as awhole. Prevalence in the metropolitan region of Recife was 39.6, and it was 35.9 in the urban interior. The rural interior had the highest prevalence, 51.4. Prevalence was twices as high in children aged 6-23 months as among those 24-59 months old, 61.8 vs. 31.0 (x2=77.9,P0.001). The mean hemoglobin concentration in the younger and older age groups were 10.4g/dL (standard deviation (SD)=1.5) and 11.4g/dL (SD=1.4),respectively. There was no statically significant difference between the sexes in terms of prevalence. conclusions. This is the first statewide assessment of anemia prevalence among young children in Brazil. Given the very high prevalence of anemia among the children studied in Pernambuco, especially those in the age group of 6-23 months, public health interventions are needed
Objetivos. Determinar la prevalencia de la anemia en niños de 6 a 59 meses en Pernambuco, un estado del nordeste de Brasil, con el fin de ayudar a establecer las políticas de salud y nutrición.
Métodos. En 1997 se determinaron las concentraciones de hemoglobina en una
muestra representativa de 777 niños. El proceso de muestreo se realizó en tres fases.
Primero se seleccionaron aleatoriamente 18 municipios representativos del estado y
de sus tres zonas geográficas (la región metropolitana de Recife, el interior urbano
y el interior rural). A continuación, utilizando las listas del censo, se seleccionaron
aleatoriamente 45 sectores censales. Finalmente, se seleccionaron 777 niños de 6 a 59
meses de edad. La sangre se recogió por punción venosa y la hemoglobina se midió
con un hemoglobinómetro portátil. En el análisis, la prevalencia fue ponderada en
función de la distribución de edad del censo.Resultados. La prevalencia de la anemia entre los niños de 6 a 59 meses fue del 40,9% en todo el estado, del 39,6% en el área metropolitana de Recife, del 35,9% en el interior urbano y del 51,4% en el interior rural.