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.