Anemia nutricional e alimentação na infância

Abstract

This work intends to verify the anemia incidence in the childhood and, in order to investigate the nutritional iron-deficiency anemia, to evaluate the feeding and the blood count of the children that attended at a laboratory of clinical analyses. It is a study accomplished with 162 children with ages among 6 months and 10 years that made blood count in the period of January to April of 2003. The sample was classified in 3 age groups, being verified the anemia occurrence. Through an applied questionnaire in the responsible for the child, the amount and frequency of the consumption of iron-rich foods were registered and also the feeding of the previous day. The anemia incidence in the age groups from six to twenty-four months, two to five years and six to ten years, it was respectively of 66%, 30% and 8%. Among the anemic ones it was founded hypocromic and microcytic anemia in 73%, increased RDW in 60% of those and larger indexes of inadequate consumption of iron. The high anemia prevalence in the childhood has significant correlation with an iron-poor diet and inadequate alimentary combinations. Therefore, it is important to instruct the children's mothers in the sense of improving the bioavailability of iron in the feeding of those.