Original Article

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007) 61, 865–869; doi:10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602613; published online 24 January 2007

Low anemia prevalence in school-aged children in Bangalore, South India: possible effect of school health initiatives

Guarantor: S Muthayya.

Contributors: SM, PT, MBZ and MA were involved in study design and implementation, data interpretation and writing of the manuscript. DM and AE were involved in study design, implementation and revising of the manuscript. AVK and RFH were involved in study design, data interpretation and writing of the manuscript. The authors have no conflict of interest.

S Muthayya1, P Thankachan1, M B Zimmermann2, M Andersson2, A Eilander3, D Misquith4, R F Hurrell2 and A V Kurpad1

  1. 1Division of Nutrition, St John's Research Institute, St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India
  2. 2Human Nutrition Laboratory, Institute of Food Science and Nutrition, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland
  3. 3Unilever Food and Health Research Institute, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands
  4. 4Department of Community Health, St John's Medical College, St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India

Correspondence: Dr S Muthayya, Division of Nutrition, St John's Research Institute, St John's National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore 560 034, India. E-mail: sumithra@iphcr.res.in

Received 3 July 2006; Revised 14 November 2006; Accepted 14 November 2006; Published online 24 January 2007.

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Abstract

Objective:

 

Anemia is a serious public health problem in Indian school children. Since 2003, simple health intervention programs such as antihelminthic treatment and vitamin A supplementation have been implemented in primary schools in the Bangalore region, Karnataka, India. This study examines the prevalence of anemia in school children who are beneficiaries of this program.

Design:

 

Cross-sectional survey.

Setting:

 

Bangalore district, South India.

Subjects:

 

A total of 2030 boys and girls, aged 5–15 years, attending schools in the Bangalore district.

Interventions:

 

School-based, twice yearly intervention: deworming (albendazole 400 mg, single oral dose) and vitamin A supplementation (200 000 IU, single oral dose).

Main outcome measures:

 

Anemia prevalence based on measure of blood hemoglobin (Hb).

Results:

 

Mean age and blood Hb concentration of all children were 9.5plusminus2.6 years and 12.6plusminus1.1 g/dl (range 5.6–16.7), respectively. The overall anemia prevalence in this group was 13.6%. Anemia prevalence was lower in boys than girls (12.0%; n=1037 vs 15.3%; n=993 respectively, P<0.05). There was no significant difference in anemia prevalence between children in urban and rural locations (14.6 and 12.3%, respectively).

Conclusions:

 

The current low anemia prevalence in Bangalore could be due to the impact of school-based intervention programs that have been in place since 2003. The beneficial interactions of deworming and vitamin A supplementation could have widespread implications for current preventive public health initiatives. There is now need for the development of clear policy guidelines based on these simple and integrated interventions.

Sponsorship:

 

This research was supported by the Micronutrient Initiative, Ottawa, Canada, and Unilever Food and Health Research Institute, Vlaardingen, The Netherlands.

Keywords:

anemia, hemoglobin, albendazole, vitamin A, school children, Bangalore

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