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Iron deficiency in Bourke children
Author(s) -
HARRIS M. F.,
CAMERON B.,
FLORIN S.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1988.tb01332.x
Subject(s) - medicine , mean corpuscular volume , pediatrics , serum ferritin , iron deficiency , ferritin , demography , anemia , hemoglobin , sociology
A study of 121 Aboriginal and 91 non‐Aboriginal children aged 6 years and under was carried out in Bourke during 6 months of 1986. These children were selected either because they were admitted to hospital and had an incidental blood test or were screened at various childcare and preschool facilities in the town. A haemoglobin level of below 100 g/l was found in 12.4% of Aboriginal children compared with only 3.3% of non‐Aboriginal children. A mean corpuscular volume of less than 80 was found in 15.7% of Aboriginal children and 3.3% of non‐Aboriginal children. Of the total sample, 17.4% of Aboriginal children and 6.6% of non‐Aboriginal children had a serum ferritin level of less than 10 ng/ml. These markers of iron deficiency were associated with low weight and crowded living conditions in Aboriginal children. The prevalence of haemoglobin below 100 g/l among Aboriginal children under 5 years has fallen from 24.7% in 1971 to 14.1% in 1986.