The Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Primary School Students in Isfahan City, Iran, and the Effect of Nutrition on its Recovery

The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in primary school students in Isfahan City, Iran, in 2014, and the effects of nutrition on its recovery.
In this interventional study, 200 students of two primary school in Isfahan, aged between 7 and 12 years were selected via multi-stage random sampling method. After measuring body mass index (BMI), blood samples were collected from these individuals. In the next stage, 35 students with serum ferritin of less than 50 μg/l, and hemoglobin (Hb) level of less than 12 g/dl were selected for new investigation under a controlled diet for 3 months. Then, blood tests were done again, and the obtained data were analyzed using SPSS software and statistical tests at the significance level of less than 0.05.
Findings: The prevalence of anemia, iron deficiency, and iron deficiency anemia was 6.0%, 8%, and 3.5%, respectively. The mean ferritin and hemoglobin levels were 27.59 ± 10.11 μg/l and 13.04 ± 0.97 g/dl, respectively; after three months, these amounts increased to 30.88 ± 10.07 μg/l and 13.35 ± 0.87 g/dl, respectively. There was a significant relationship between hemoglobin and ferritin levels with nutrition in the level of 95% of confidence.
Suitable nutrition can be used for improving the serum iron among anemic children. In addition, it is recommended to do screening programs for iron deficiency during the rapid growing age of children; so that they would be treated if necessary.