Association between anaemia,iron deficiency anaemia,neglected parasitic infections and socioeconomic factors in rural children of West Malaysia

Background: given that micronutrient deficiency,neglected intestinal parasitic infections (ipis) and poor socioeconomic status are closely linked,we conducted a cross-sectional study to assess the relationship between ipis and nutritional status of children living in remote and rural areas in west malaysia. methods/findings: a total of 550 children participated,comprising 520 (94.5%) school children aged 7 to 12 years old,30 (5.5%) young children aged 1 to 6 years old,254 (46.2%) boys and 296 (53.8%) girls. of the 550 children,26.2% were anaemic,54.9% iron deficient and 16.9% had iron deficiency anaemia (ida). the overall prevalence of helminths was 76.5% comprising trichuris trichiura (71.5%),ascaris lumbricoides (41.6%) and hookworm infection (13.5%). it was observed that iron deficiency was significantly higher in girls (p = 0.032) compared to boys. univariate analysis demonstrated that low level of mother's education (or = 2.52; 95% ci = 1.38-4.60; p = 0.002),non working parents (or = 2.18; 95% ci = 2.06-2.31; p = 0.013),low household income (or = 2.02; 95% ci = 1.14-3.59; p = 0.015),t. trichiura (or = 2.15; 95% ci = 1.21-3.81; p = 0.008) and a. lumbricoides infections (or = 1.63; 95% ci = 1.04-2.55; p = 0.032) were significantly associated with the high prevalence of ida. multivariate analysis confirmed that low level of mother's education (or = 1.48; 95 ci% = 1.33-2.58; p<0.001) was a significant predictor for ida in these children. conclusion: it is crucial that a comprehensive primary health care programme for these communities that includes periodic de-worming,nutrition supplement,improved household economy,education,sanitation status and personal hygiene are taken into consideration to improve the nutritional status of these children. © 2012 ngui et al.