Iron Deficiency Anemia in School Children of Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan

Abstract

The prevalence of obesity has increased at an epidemic rate and obesity has become one of the most common health concerns in both developed and developing countries. Very few studies in Pakistan have noted a possible association between iron deficiency anemia and obesity. The objective of this study was to investigate the frequency of iron deficiency anemia in obese school children of Dera Ismail Khan (N.W.F.P), Pakistan. This study involved a total of 103 children (6-11 years) with 76 (73.79%) obese and 27 (26.21%) as healthy/normal weights, comprising 58 (56.31%) as the boys and 45 (43.69%) as the girls. Concentration of hemoglobin was used as the sole criteria for iron deficiency anemia. Children were considered iron deficient anemic if their hemoglobin concentration was found below 11.5g/dl. With the use of Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s age and gender specific Growth charts, obese were defined as having BMI of more than 95^th percentile. In the present study none of the obese boys or girls was suffering from iron deficiency anemia. However, 58.82% healthy/normal weight boys were anemic, with maximum number at the age of 06 years. Similarly 70% healthy/normal weight girls were anemic, with maximum number at the age of 6 (100%), followed by 10 years (66.66%). Both are the ages of physical activity and growth spurt. Given the increasing number of obese children and known morbidities of iron deficiency anemia, screening for iron deficiency anemia may be included in children with elevated BMI for age percentiles.