Current prevalence and some clinical associations of childhood anaemia in urban and rural communities of central Nigeria.

The current prevalence of anaemia was determined among children in the age group half to fourteen years in one urban and two rural communities in the middle belt region of Nigeria. A total of 1,775 apparently healthy and 660 sick children were investigated using capillary packed cell volume, PCV, as the diagnostic index. Packed cell volume of healthy children was found to vary between 23 pc and 48 pc. The mean PCV for the whole group was 35.90 pc but the relatively better economic and educational status of urban elite children was reflected in the higher PCV levels. Using the WHO recommended cut-off values for anaemia in children, prevalence of anaemia in the healthy children study was found to be 35.8 pc. When compared with figures recorded in Nigerian children in earlier studies, this finding represents a deterioration and occurs at a time of declining national economy. There were significant differences between groups when classified by age and socio-economic status, with the highest prevalence of 55 pc being found in the rural school-age group and the lowest of 20 pc in the economically better-off urban pre-school children. The overall prevalence of anaemia among sick children was 55 pc with the school age group having the worst value of 70 pc. In most cases, the anaemia was associated with nutritional and infectious conditions.