Half of children under two have anemia

A recent survey shows that up to 29 percent of Vietnamese children of less than five years old suffer from anemia. The rate is up to 45 percent for kids of 0 to 23 months old.

Kids from 6 months to 2 years old are usually deficient in iron because their reserved iron is provided by their mothers in the three last months of the pregnancy. However, over 36 percent of pregnant women lack of iron. The shortage of iron can cause many side-effects for pregnant women.

In addition, the shortage of iron in kids of less than 2 years old is also caused by unbalanced regimen. According to several research works, iron supplied from food of Vietnamese people only meets 30-50 percent of the requirement.

A recent national nutrition survey shows that energy from meals for kids of 2-4 years old in Vietnam satisfies 95 percent of the recommended level and only 70 percent of iron.

Dr. Nguyen Tien Dung, head of the Pediatrics Ward of Bach Mai Hospital, says that through treatment of child patients who were hospitalized for having anemia, the content of iron that they gain from protein is too little. Perhaps they got sufficient meat but too much vegetable and fruit, which affects the iron absorption.

Notably, most children who were detected of having anemia when they saw doctors to be examined for other diseases.