@article {Abou-Zeid862, author = {Alaa H. Abou-Zeid and Moataz M. Abdel-Fattah and AbdulSalam A. Al-Shehri and Tamer M. Hifnawy and Sir-Alkhatim A. Al-Hassan}, title = {Anemia and nutritional status of schoolchildren living at Saudi high altitude area}, volume = {27}, number = {6}, pages = {862--869}, year = {2006}, publisher = {Saudi Medical Journal}, abstract = {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{\textpm}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.}, issn = {0379-5284}, URL = {https://smj.org.sa/content/27/6/862}, eprint = {https://smj.org.sa/content/27/6/862.full.pdf}, journal = {Saudi Medical Journal} }