Assessment of nutritional status of anemic children

Background: anemia resulting from severe iron deficiency is the most prevalent and widespread nutrition related health problem among infants/children because their rapid growth increase iron needs. aim: to assess the nutritional status of iron deficient anemic children aged 1-3 years and to figure out clinically observable nutritional risks present in them. study design: hospital based cross-sectional study. setting: the children's hospital and institute of child health (chich),lahore duration of study: from 5th june to 15th july,2011. sample: fifty iron deficient anemic children aged 1-3 years were included in the study method: the sample was collected from general medical wards of the children's hospital & the institute of child health,lahore. convenience sampling technique was used to reach the targeted sample size of 50 iron deficient anemic children. the children were screened for iron deficiency anemia on the basis of hemoglobin,hematocrit,rbc indices and serum iron levels. result: results showed a high prevalence of ida and poor nutritional status of children aged 12-18 months as majority of the wasted (63%),underweight (58%) and stunted children (54%) belonged to this age group. clinical assessment of the children indicated the presence of multiple nutrient deficiencies. breastfeeding was not continued till the recommended duration by the majority. delayed weaning was associated with low weight-for-age. majority had a low intake of calories and iron,and a high intake of protein. vegetables were consumed the least except for starchy vegetables. conclusion: high susceptibility of children to iron deficiency due to their increased iron needs for rapid growth and relatively low iron content in the diets of majority of the children necessitates a need to plan effective dietary strategies that could help prevent ida among children.