Iron deficiency anemia in pediatric children at Kalmunai North Base Hospital, Sri Lanka

Seyid Mohamed Moulana Seyida Afreen 1 2, Muneeb Muhamed Musthafa 1 * , Rajavarthani Sanjeev 3, Somasundaram Norman Roshanth 4
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1 Department of Biosystems Technology, Faculty of Technology, South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, Oluvil, Sri Lanka
2 Al-Manar central College, Kalmunai, Sri Lanka
3 Department of Human Biology, Faculty of Health-Care Sciences, Eastern University, Sri Lanka, Batticalo, Sri Lanka
4 Pediatric unit, Base Hospital, Kalmunai North, Sri Lanka
* Corresponding Author
J CLIN MED KAZ, Volume 21, Issue 1, pp. 74-79. https://doi.org/10.23950/jcmk/14263
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Author Contributions
Conceptualization, Dr. Muneeb and Dr. Rajavarthani; methodology, Mrs. Afreen and Dr. Rajavarthani; validation, Dr. Muneeb and Dr. Rajavarthani; formal analysis, Mrs. Afreen, Dr.Muneeb, and Dr. Rajavarthani; investigation, Mrs. Afreen; resources, Mrs.Afreen and Dr. Roshanth; data curation, Mrs. Afreen; writing – original draft preparation, Mrs. Afreen; writing – review and editing, Dr. Rajavarthani and Dr. Muneeb; visualization, Mrs. Afreen; supervision, Dr. Muneeb, Dr.Rajavarthani and Dr. Roshanth; project administration, Dr. Muneeb, Dr. Rajavarthani and Dr. Roshanth; funding acquisition, Mrs. Afreen. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

ABSTRACT

Objective: This study's aim was to estimate association between the iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and associated risk factors among children at Kalmunai north in Sri Lanka during COVID-19. Material and Methods: During the pandemic, 101 children aged between 1and 14 years were involved in the cross sectional study. Hemoglobin levels, serum ferritin and C-recactive protein (CRP) were measured to determine anemia. Additionally, dietary intake, socioeconomic status, and demographic information were collected through interviews with the caregivers. Chi-square tests and Pearson correlation were used to investigate connections between IDA and other factors such as demographic characteristics and eating habits. In addition, a multivariate regression analysis was performed to identify independent predictors of IDA. Results: 7.9% of children were found to be anemic at Kalmunai Base Hospital. Low dietary iron consumption was revealed as a significant risk factor for IDA. Meat, liver, fish, chicken, fresh milk, dark green leafy vegetables, and black tea were found to be independent predictors of IDA, explaining 57.7% of the variation in IDA frequency (R2 value = 57.7%; P< 0.001). Consuming dark green leafy vegetables, poultry, liver, beef, and fish are linked to a lower incidence of IDA in children. On the other hand, a higher risk of IDA appears to be associated with increased consumption of fresh milk and black tea. In conclusion, this study focuses on Dietary factors, especially the consumption of particular foods, were found to be significant contributors of IDA, even if demographic parameters did not differ significantly from IDA. Strategies to increase iron intake and dietary diversity, particularly among young children, are critical in the fight against IDA.
Keywords: Pediatric children, Haemoglobin, Iron deficiency anaemia and Dietary habits, Iron rich food

CITATION

Afreen SMMS, Musthafa MM, Sanjeev R, Roshanth SN. Iron deficiency anemia in pediatric children at Kalmunai North Base Hospital, Sri Lanka. J CLIN MED KAZ. 2024;21(1):74-9. https://doi.org/10.23950/jcmk/14263

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