Prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia among Indonesian children.

A survey on the prevalence of iron deficiency anaemic was performed in 1160 pediatric out-patients of the General Hospital in Surabaya. Criteria for anaemia were haemoglobin concentrations of less than 10, 11 and 12g% for the age groups of 6 months to 2 years (I), 2 to 5 years (II) and 5 to 12 years (III), respectively. Criteria for Fe-deficiency among the anaemic children were serum transferrin saturation of less than 16% and a bone marrow devoid of iron. In group I 12,8% of the children had Fe-deficiency anaemia, in group II 10,7% and in group III 7,6%. The over-all prevalence of anaemia was 14,2% and of iron deficiency anaemia 9,8%.