الفهرس | Only 14 pages are availabe for public view |
Abstract Iron deficiency anemia remains the most global health issue worldwide especially in infants as it can be a cause of delay in infant’s mental and motor development and results in problems that last long after the iron level has increased to a healthy level. Higher prevalence of ID and IDA in Egypt and developing countries compared to other countries could be attributed to the deficiency of food with sufficient red meat. Despite the fact that there is enough dietary iron in some food, this is the case because heme iron is absorbed better than non-heme iron. Moreover, parasites like hookworm can worsen iron deficiency due to profound gastrointestinal blood loss. A cross-sectional study was conducted on Egyptian children who visited Baltim hospital and at pre- and primary schools at Baltim district in the period between January 2021 and January 2022. A total of 200 participants were enrolled in the study, all participants were determined according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, they were classified into 3 groups: 88 children with iron sufficient status, 38 children with iron deficiency without anemia, and 74 children with iron deficiency with anemia. All children were subjected to detailed medical history and complete clinical examination including anthropometric measurements such as height and height .all measurements were put on Zscore. A blood sample was taken to perform hemoglobin concentration in addition to serum ferritin and crp (participants with elevated crp suggestive of infection or inflammation were excluded from this study). Summary 91 Our results showed that iron deficiency anemia was more prevalent in children below 2years (60% of childern below 2years have IDA)) which could be attributed to wrong weaning practices, exclusive breastfeeding till late age, or top feeding with predominantly diluted feeds. IDA was associated with stunting and wasting in age category below 5years, on the other hand it was associated with overweight in age category from 5years to less than 11years. It is highly recommended to give more attention about iron deficiency anemia and its impact on growth, early screening especially during the time of fast growth in the first two years of life is very important and prophylactic iron supplementations should be given to all susceptible infants, parents and children require more educational lessons about ID and IDA to avoid its complications , on the other hand pediatricians, hematologists, endocrinologists, and other healthcare providers should work to eliminate ID and its anemia. |