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NORMAL HAEMATOLOGICAL VALUES IN CHILDREN AGED 6 TO 36 MONTHS AND SOCIO‐MEDICAL IMPLICATIONS
Author(s) -
Lovric V. A.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1970.tb50047.x
Subject(s) - medicine , iron deficiency , pediatrics , attendance , demography , incidence (geometry) , pregnancy , anemia , physics , genetics , sociology , biology , optics , economics , economic growth
Normal hæmatological values are presented from a survey of healthy children aged 6 to 36 months and regularly attending various metropolitan baby health centres in Sydney. Iron‐deficiency anæmia, defined as a haemoglobin level of 10.0 gm/100 ml or below, in association with a microcytic, hypochromic blood film, was found in only 3% of children. In hospital practice, 20% of children have this disease. Circumstantial evidence linking iron‐deficiency anaemia and childhood morbidity is presented. In one‐third of the families, the total weekly income was $50.00 or below. Nevertheless, children in such families showed no significant tendency to either iron‐deficiency anaemia or hæmoglobin values below the mean levels. There was no increased incidence of either anæmia or low hæmoglobin values in premature children, when compared with others. This is contrary to the situation observed in hospital practice. Children of mothers whose ethnic origin is not Australia or the United Kingdom showed a greater tendency to low haemoglobin values. There 4s no evidence linking anaemia during pregnancy, increased maternal age, or number of children in the family to subsequent development of iron‐deficiency anæmia in childhood. Regular attendance at baby health centres, a common denominator in all those examined, materially reduces the chance of development of iron‐deficiency anæmia and associated morbidity.