Prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in Iranian children under 6 years of age: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Mahboubeh Nazari,1 Esmaeil Mohammadnejad,2 Sahar Dalvand,3 Reza Ghanei Gheshlagh4,51Department of Nursing, Garmsar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Garmsar, Iran; 2Department of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Biostatistics Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 4Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran; 5Clinical Care Research Center, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, IranBackground: Iron deficiency anemia is a prevalent condition among children in developing and developed countries that leads to impaired development, activity intolerance, behavioral changes, irritability, and reduced learning ability. The studies conducted in Iran have reported different prevalence rates for this condition. This systematic review and meta-analysis were aimed at estimating the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in Iranian children under 6 years of age.Methodology: Persian and English articles published from 2001 to 2018 were collected. The search process was conducted in national and international databases, including SID, MagIran, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, using the following keywords and their combinations: Iron, Iron deficiency, Iron deficiency anemia, Ferritin, Child, Children, and Iran. The data were analyzed using the meta-analysis and random effects model. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2, statistic. All analyses were performed using the STATA software, version 12.Results: Analysis of six selected articles with a total sample size of 1,700 showed that the prevalence rates of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia in the Iranian children under 6 years of age were 27.7% (95% CI: 11.9–43.5) and 18.2% (95% CI: 14.3–22), respectively. In addition, the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia was higher in boys (17.7% with 95% CI: 5.9–29.5) than in girls (14.4% with 95% CI: 4.5–24.2).Conclusion: About one-fifth of Iranian children under the age of 6 years suffer from iron deficiency anemia. Identification of those at risk of developing this condition with the goal of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment seems to be an important and necessary task.Keywords: anemia, iron deficiency anemia, iron, meta-analysis, Iran, prevalence