Anemia and nutritional status of schoolchildren living at Saudi high altitude area

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence and possible risk factors for anemia and abnormal anthropometric measurements among schoolchildren in Al-Hada Area, Taif, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: We conducted the study between January and April, 2005 at Al-Hada area. A nested case-control study was conducted to estimate risk factors for anemia and abnormal anthropometric measurements.

RESULTS: From 5 schools, 513 students were recruited. The mean hemoglobin concentration was 13.4±0.9 g/dL, while the prevalence of anemia was 11.6% and 15.5% based on hemoglobin and hematocrit values. At the same time, underweight affected 14.2% of the students, and stunting affected 12.2%. Moreover, 9.8% of the students were obese and 13.8% suffered from wasting. Most of the victims of anemia and erroneous anthropometric measurements were females, except for wasting which was more prevalent among males.

CONCLUSION: Anemia is highly prevalent among these schoolchildren, which is seriously affecting the growth of 6-14 year-old children. Similarly, malnutrition seems to be a significant health problem among those children as estimated by anthropometric measurements, where all forms of abnormal body measurements affected at least 9.8% of the studied group. An in-depth investigation of the etiological factors of iron deficiency and malnutrition is urgently needed, and suitable nutrition-education and iron supplementation programs are recommended.