Search results

The purpose of the study was to assess the association between iron intake and the incidence of anaemia during pregnancy as well as estimate the prevalence and magnitude of anaemia in pregnancy.

A retrospective case-control study was conducted on 383 postnatal women at four health-care facilities. Data on iron supplementation and haemoglobin (Hb) levels during pregnancy was collected from the respondents. Spearman, Pearson Chi-square tests of independence were used to measure associations between variables, a log-linear model was adopted to ascertain the association and level of interaction among variables. All p-values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.

Results show 54.3% prevalence of anaemia at registration and 33.6% at 36 weeks of pregnancy, p < 0.001. Iron supplement intake during pregnancy was 96.3%. The log-linear analysis model retained the Parity × Marital Status interaction across the levels of anaemia (p < 0.001). Compared to married pregnant women, single pregnant women were almost equally likely to be anaemic (OR = 1.06).

One of the limitations of retrospective studies is recall bias; however, this was likely to be minimal, as participants were approached within 8 days after delivery. Despite this, this study still holds promise as it reports a rather high prevalence of anaemia at 36 weeks even with the high intake of iron.

Anaemia in pregnancy is a major public health issue because of the consequential outcomes on maternal and child health. The study identified a high prevalence of anaemia at registration; which could be the basis for intensifying pre-natal iron supplementation before pregnancy.

Iron deficiency anaemia is widely prevalent amongst women and children in India. The aim of the paper is to study the effect of supplementation of micronutrient fortified biscuits on haemoglobin and serum iron levels of adolescent girls (n = 46, 10‐16 years) studying in a government school in Jaipur city, India.

The study was designed to be an intervention study. The intervention was with biscuits fortified with 30 mg iron, 100  μg folic acid, 600  μg vitamin A, 40 mg vitamin C and 150  μg iodine. The iron status of adolescent girls was determined through haemoglobin and serum iron levels.

The results revealed that 95.7 per cent of the adolescent girls suffered from anaemia of which 28.3 per cent had “mild” deficiency and 67.4 per cent had “moderate” deficiency. Anaemia was more prevalent in the older age groups. On supplementation, there was a significant increase in the haemoglobin levels. There was a three‐fold increase in the percentage of adolescent girls in the “normal” category of anaemia from 4.3 to 13.0 per cent and more than two‐fold decrease in the “moderate” category of anaemia from 67.4 to 28.3 per cent. Moreover, 21.7 per cent of the subjects had “normal” levels while the rest (78.3 per cent) had low levels of serum iron; the percentage of adolescent girls in the normal category increased to 93.5 per cent after intervention on the basis of serum iron levels.

Supplementation with iron and folic acid with other micronutrients improved the haemoglobin and serum iron levels of the adolescent girls significantly.

The paper recommends that the school system can be used for micronutrient supplementation to improve the nutritional status of children and adolescents as the students are more regimented here for distribution of nutrient fortified food products.

It is widely accepted that good health and education are important components of human capability. Although China has made encouraging progress in education and health causes, the role of poor health as an intervening factor in education has not been fully recognized. Iron deficiency is the major micronutrient deficiency encountered by children and adolescents. Many medical and social studies have found a negative correlation between iron deficiency and children physical growth and cognitive development. However, few of the existing literatures work to the conclusion of a causal relationship considering the endogenity problem in the estimation of a human capital model. The purpose of this paper is to study the iron status of elementary school children living in the poor countryside of western China and its educational consequence with the application of instrumental variable (IV) estimation.

An analytical framework of academic achievement production is adopted in the paper to empirically identify the relationship between iron deficiency and academic achievement to estimate the impact.

Using a sample of 45,549 school children from Gansu, the paper finds that around 86 per cent of the sample children are iron deficient and 40 per cent of the sample children are suffering from iron deficiency anaemia. The use of IV is innovative in identifying the endogenous health variable, namely iron deficiency.

This paper enriches existing studies on children health and education. IV estimation indicates that iron deficiency has a significant adverse impact on school children academic achievement. The paper suggests health intervention, such as iron intake fortification, as a possible measure for education cause.

Anaemia is much more serious and of greater social significance than is generally realised. According to WHO ‘… a great deal of ill‐health, sapping energy and productiveness in many countries and causing tragedies in childbirth, is due to anaemia’.

This study evaluated the prevalence of anaemia and its association with various risk factors in 500 infants attended at two municipal primary health care centres in Rio de Janeiro. Anaemia was assessed using a portable haemoglobinometer (HemoCue). Nutritional status was assessed via weight/age, weight/height and height/age indices. The cut off value –2 z score was used to define underweight, wasted and stunted children according to the National Centre for Health and Statistics – NCHS – curves. Socio‐economic and biological data were obtained from the child’s mother through the use of questionnaires. No association was corroborated between the prevalence of anaemia and the studied risk factors. Development of primary health care intervention is important as a means of reducing the incidence of anaemia in infants, especially in boys and children in the second semester of life, who demonstrated a higher risk.

Although iron is one of the most abundant elements in nature, anaemia due to iron deficiency is probably the world's most common nutritional disorder. It has been estimated that 20–30% of the earth's population are affected by the disease. Since an adequate supply of iron is essential for many crucial bodily functions, this paradox of “famine in the midst of plenty” is a serious national and international health problem. In this article we shall look at the various causes of iron deficiency and its consequences, at methods of treatment, and at other nutritional aspects of iron metabolism.

Iron deficiency is a common condition even in countries with a high economic standard. The presence of iron deficiency implies a lack of balance between the iron which can be absorbed from the diet and the daily iron requirement. This is particularly likely to occur at those ages where the physiological needs are greatest, i.e. during the times of rapid growth, and in women during reproductive life due to the extra demands of menstruation and pregnancy. Iron deficiency is also likely to occur in any circumstance in which there is pathological blood loss, for example from bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract from causes such as piles, peptic ulcers and so on. In the tropics one of the commonest causes of iron deficiency is blood loss due to hookworm infestation.

Little is known about the prevalence of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia in non‐pregnant adult women of low socio‐economic status. The purpose of this paper is to determine the level of awareness of the importance and sources of iron among female factory workers in the export processing zone (EPZ) sector. The influence of socio‐economic status of these women on their consumption of iron was also studied.

A questionnaire survey was carried out with 300 EPZ female workers aged between 18 and 45 years old. The interviewer‐administered questionnaire gathered data on their personal background, awareness on iron and their frequency of consumption of selected foods. Qualitative analysis of the dietary habits of a sample of 32 women was made through the use of a 24 h food recall.

The findings of the study revealed that 77 per cent of the female factory workers surveyed did not know the importance of iron in their body. Chi‐square tests showed that there was an association between educational level and knowledge on the importance of iron ( p < 0.01). The residential area of the women was not associated with their awareness on iron ( p > 0.05).

This study can arouse the interest of professionals in the managerial cadre of the factories and the local health authorities. They can further investigate the iron status of female factory workers and subsequently take necessary measures to improve health status of the workers and their work productivity.

In Mauritius, there has not been any recent study on the awareness and consumption of iron among women working in the factories. Moreover, most studies done worldwide have focussed on the iron status of pregnant women. This study will therefore provide additional data on the iron status of another “at risk” group.

Iron deficiency is the number one nutritional disorder in the world and is quite common in Pakistan. Iron deficiency anaemia may result from a low dietary intake, inadequate intestinal absorption, excessive blood loss, and/or increased needs. While iron overload is also responsible of number of diseases. The normal iron status of our body is usually maintained by controlling amount of iron absorbed from food. The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for adult male and female in the age from 19 to 50 years is 8 and 18mg, respectively. While RDA above 50 years is it for both genders i.e. 8mg (NIH, 2002). Nutritional status of dietary iron was estimated to combat the iron related diseases in Pakistani population.

Food samples were collected from major cities/districts of the country using market basket method. Daily diets were prepared and analyzed for iron contents using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS).

An average value of iron concentration was measured to be 52±15μg/g, which leads to an average daily dietary intake of 31±9.5mg/d, with a variation of 12 to 52mg/d. The estimated values of our daily iron intake are about 2 times higher than the recommended daily allowance set by international committee of radiological protection (ICRP) and US food and nutrition board (FNB). Apparently our diet seems enriched in iron contents. But its bioavailability may be low due to dietary composition. Major portion of our diet is based on plant food (71 per cent), followed by milk products (17 per cent) and other miscellaneous items, whereas consumption of animal food is only 5 per cent. This dietary composition and our food intake habits in the presence of iron inhibiters (i.e. phytate in plant food, tannin and polyphenols in tea and calcium) could be the leading cause of iron deficiency anemia among the Pakistani population.

Iron deficiency anemia is quiet common and cause of concern in Pakistan. The findings of the study indicate that bioavailability of iron to Pakistani population can be enhanced/improved with slight alterations/adjustments in dietary habits.

The new Fair Trading measure aims at the establishment of a strong, bioadly‐based central direction of consumer protection; a new Director‐General of Fair Trading with wide responsibilities “for protecting consumers” with authority to “make proposals for the exercise of order‐making powers in relation to trading practices which adversely affect consumer interests”, and “to act against those who persistently follow a course of conduct unfair to consumers”. This supremo is to work closely with the Monopolies and Mergers Commission and the Restrictive Practices Board, and no less than five junior Ministers are to be given special responsibilities for protecting consumer interests, handling these aspects of the new system in their own departments.