Prevalência e fatores associados à anemia em escolares. Maceió, 2013.

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of and factors associated with anemia in school children from Maceió, Brazil. Methods: Cross-sectional study using probability sampling of 1518 children (9.8 ± 0.5 years of age) attending public (n=931) and private (n=587) primary schools in the municipality. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to obtain socioeconomic, demographic, anthropomorphic, hemoglobin and dietary data. The measure of association used was prevalence ratio (PR) and respective CI95%, calculated by Poisson regression with robust variance adjustment, for the crude and adjusted analyses. Results: The prevalence of anemia was found to be higher amongst the public school children than the private school children (10.8% vs. 7.0%; PR=1.54; CI95%: 1.1; 2.2). At the public schools, the variables that remained significantly associated with anemia after the multivariate analysis were “consumption of fruits and fruit juices < 2 portions/day” (PR=2.19; CI95%: 1.18; 4.06) and “male” (PR=1.51; CI95%: 1.001; 2.30). At the private schools, these variables were “working mother” (PR=2.83; CI95%: 1.23; 6.52) and “monthly school fees < R$ 188.00” (PR=3.20; CI95%: 1.46; 7.03). Conclusion: Anemia amongst school-age children is a public health problem in the Brazilian city of Maceió. Even when it is classified as slight, it requires the attention of public policy managers, in view of the associated damage to health, cognitive development, school performance, and the quality of life of the individuals affected.