Hospital-Based Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anemia among Pre-School Children in Dubai

Abstract

Introduction: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is an internationally recognized leading cause of disability and contributes to childhood morbidity and mortality. The prevalence of IDA is higher in developing countries, especially in Arab countries, compared to the west. Methods: To assess the prevalence of IDA, we analyzed the data of children aged between one to five years seen at Dr. Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Group's tertiary care hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) from 2016 to 2018. Results: We found a high occurrence of IDA in male children and non-Emirati children. Conclusion: Appropriate screening and iron supplementation are required to see a decline in the rate of IDA. Further nationwide studies are required to identify the highly prevalent and high-risk areas of IDA in the UAE.

Nutrition Situation Analysis in the UAE: A Review Study

“…Two studies indicated the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in children under five years of age. The first study, conducted in 2019 with 259 infants in the Hatta suburb in the UAE, found that 22% of the infants were anemic [ 86 ], while the second study conducted by Faysial et al found that the prevalence of anemia was 31% of hospitalized cases that were diagnosed as iron deficiency anemia in Dubai [ 87 ].…”

Prevalence and Associated Factors of Iron Deficiency and Iron Deficiency Anemia Among Under-5 Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…In this study, 28 articles were included. Out of 28 articles, 13 were done in the Asian continent, 5 , 24 - 35 7 were done in the African continent, 36 - 42 3 in the North-America continent, 43 - 45 1 in South-America, 46 and 4 were done in the European continent. 47 - 50 The sample size of included study varied from 23 36 to 7138 30 under-5 children.…”

“…The minimum prevalence of IDA (1.1%) was reported in North America 44 and the maximum prevalence of IDA (33.2%) was reported in Pakistan, Asia. 24 Four studies 5 , 34 , 35 , 46 only report factors that are associated with IDA and ID. The included articles’ detailed features for meta-analysis were given in detail in Table 1 .…”

“…The association between drinking cow’s milk frequently, being a male child, age less than 2 years, and living in a large family size IDA was carried out. In this meta-analysis, to identify the associated factors, 5 articles were used for drinking cow’s milk frequently, 26 , 41 , 47 , 49 , 50 5 for being male child, 24 , 27 , 30 , 35 , 41 6 for age less than 2 years, 5 , 30 , 41 , 42 , 44 , 46 and 3 for living in large family size. 25 , 26 , 48 Accordingly, children in the age group less 2 years (OR = 1.26; 95% CI: 1.14-1.38) and living in a large family size (OR = 1.38; 95% CI: 1.18-1.57) were significantly associated with IDA ( Figure 6 ).…”

The Burden of Disease and Risk Factors of Iron Deficiency Anemia in Preschool Children Attending the Well-Baby Clinic in the National Guard Primary Health Care Centers in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia

“…This significantly lower prevalence of IDA in the current study could be attributed to the overall improvement in dietary conditions in Saudi Arabia including adequate and sufficient micronutrients intake in addition to increased food fortification programs. [12] While in a study conducted by Faysal et al [13], more male children were affected by IDA than females.…”