Objective: Anemia is a serious public health problem in Indian school children. Since 2003, simple health intervention programs such as antihelminthic treatment and vitamin A supplementation have been implemented in primary schools in the Bangalore region, Karnataka, India. This study examines the prevalence of anemia in school children who are beneficiaries of this program.
Design: Cross-sectional survey.
Setting: Bangalore district, South India.
Subjects: A total of 2030 boys and girls, aged 5–15 years, attending schools in the Bangalore district.
Interventions: School-based, twice yearly intervention: deworming (albendazole 400 mg, single oral dose) and vitamin A supplementation (200 000 IU, single oral dose).
Main outcome measures: Anemia prevalence based on measure of blood hemoglobin (Hb).
Results: Mean age and blood Hb concentration of all children were 9.52.6 years and 12.61.1 g/dl (range 5.6–16.7), respectively. The overall anemia prevalence in this group was 13.6%. Anemia prevalence was lower in boys than girls (12.0%; n=1037 vs 15.3%; n=993 respectively, P<0.05). There was no significant difference in anemia prevalence between children in urban and rural locations (14.6 and 12.3%, respectively).
Conclusions: The current low anemia prevalence in Bangalore could be due to the impact of school-based intervention programs that have been in place since 2003. The beneficial interactions of deworming and vitamin A supplementation could have widespread implications for current preventive public health initiatives. There is now need for the development of clear policy guidelines based on these simple and integrated interventions.