Prevalence of anemia among infants three to twelve months in El Sowwa village, Sharkia Governorate

Anemia is one of the most common and intractablenutritional problems in the world today. It has consequenceson human health, social and economic development, andassociated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality,especially in pregnant women and young childrenAnemia is defined by the World Health Organizationas a condition in which the content of hemoglobin in theblood is below normal levels for a given age, gender andphysiological condition due to a deficiency of one or moreessential nutrients among them iron, folic acid, Zinc, vitaminB12 and proteins. Iron deficiency anemia is the mostcommon nutritional deficiency among children,Iron deficiency anemia affects infants at anincreasingly earlier age. The growing magnitude of theproblem and its impact on child growth, mental andpsychomotor development, characterize iron depletion as amajor nutritional problem in early life stagesPrevalence of anemia in Egypt in infants is highabout 40.8% (0.4% severe, 17.9 % moderate and 22.5%mild)The problem is aggravated in early childhood due toincorrect feeding habits, especially during weaning, when,maternal milk is frequently replaced by food that is poor iniron. Cow’s milk is an example. Despite the fact it presentsthe same level of iron as maternal milk, its bioavailability islow.