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Article

Iron Deficiency Is a More Important Cause of Anemia than Hemoglobinopathies in Kuwaiti Adolescent Girls¹

Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742 ^* Nutrition Unit, Ministry of Health, Shaab, Kuwait

²To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Anemia is the most prevalent nutritional problem worldwide, due mainly to iron deficiency. Studies of anemia are less common in adolescents than in women and children. We examined anemia prevalence in adolescent Kuwaiti schoolgirls, and its association with hemoglobinopathies as well as the most common environmental cause, Fe deficiency. A cross-sectional sample of 1051 healthy adolescent schoolgirls was studied. Sample size was based on WHO criteria. Anemia, Fe deficiency and hemoglobin (Hb) variations were studied by Hb concentration, erythrocyte protoporphyrin (EP) and an HPLC quantitation, respectively. Of the subjects sampled, 30% were anemic. Mildly elevated EP values were found in 68%. Girls with high EP levels were more likely (P < 0.001) to be anemic than girls with normal EP. Up to 25% of the girls may have had Fe deficiency anemia. Hemoglobinopathies were neither prevalent nor significantly associated with anemia. These data indicate that environmental factors play a significant role in anemia among healthy, well-to-do Kuwaiti adolescent girls.

KEY WORDS: • anemia • iron deficiency • Kuwait • adolescent girls • hemoglobinopathies

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