%0 Journal Article
%T A community based field research project investigating anaemia amongst young children living in rural Karnataka, India: a cross sectional study
%A Sant-Rayn Pasricha
%A Varalaxmi Vijaykumar
%A NS Prashanth
%A H Sudarshan
%A Beverley-Ann Biggs
%A Jim Black
%A Arun Shet
%J BMC Public Health
%D 2009
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1471-2458-9-59
%X A cross sectional, community based study. We engaged in extensive community consultation and tailored our study design to the outcomes of these discussions. We utilised local women as field workers, harnessing the capacity of local health workers to assist with the study. We adopted a programmatic approach with a census rather than random sampling strategy in the village, incorporating appropriate case management for children identified to have anaemia. We developed a questionnaire based on existing standard measurement tools for standard of living, food security and nutrition. Specimen processing was conducted at the Primary Health Centre laboratory prior to transport to an urban research laboratory.Adopting this study design, we have recruited 415 of 470 potentially eligible children who were living in the selected villages. We achieved support from the community and cooperation of local health workers. Our results will improve the understanding into anaemia amongst young children in rural India. However, many further studies are required to understand the health problems of the population of rural India, and our study design and technique provide a useful demonstration of a successful strategy.Anaemia is highly prevalent in India. The third National Family Health Study (NFHS-3) conducted during 2005每6 found that amongst children aged 6 to 59 months, the prevalence of anaemia is 69.5%; in rural India, the prevalence is 71.5%. The prevalence is maximal amongst younger children (12每17 months 每 84.5%, 18每23 months 81.6%). The prevalence of anaemia in rural areas appeared to have risen since the previous NFHS (in 1998每9) [1-3].Iron deficiency has been considered the dominant contributor to this burden. While studies conducted in urban slums have found that iron deficiency is a major cause [4], Vitamin B12 and folate deficiency have also been identified as important [5,6]. Internationally, malaria, vitamin A deficiency and genetic haemoglobinopathies significantly cont
%U http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/9/59