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Introduction: anemia remains a major public health challenge worldwide, frequently having multifactorial causes and wide-ranging, largely underestimated repercussions. The purpose of this paper is to assess the prevalence of anemia and identify associated factors in a group of children, adults, and pregnant women., Methods: our sample consisted of a total of 1360 volunteers (group I: 410 school-aged children aged 5-11 years; group II: 533 adults aged 16 to 65 years; group III: 417 pregnant women aged 17 to 45 years) randomly selected from different towns of the M'diq-Fnideq prefecture, Morocco from March 2018 to September 2018. Data on socio-demographic, anthropometric, and dietary status were collected from a questionnaire survey. A complete blood count was performed using a hematology analyzer, Sysmex KX21N® (Sysmex Corporation, Kobe, Japan), in the hematology laboratory of the Mohamed VI Hospital of M'diq., Results: anemia was found in 31% of children, 52.4% of adults, and 22.5% of pregnant women. Microcytic hypochromic anemia was the most dominant type of anemia in children, adults, and pregnant women with percentages of 40.6%, 48.7%, and 43.5%, respectively. Mild anemia was much more common than moderate and severe anemia in all groups. Furthermore, anemia was associated with low socioeconomic and educational levels in adults (22.8% versus 27.9%) and pregnant women (18.1% versus 16.8%). Schoolchildren with illiterate parents and low socioeconomic levels are the most affected by anemia, with a prevalence of 75% and 69.44%, respectively. Also, children with insufficient stature are at a high risk for anemia compared to children of normal stature (p<0.001). As for weight for age, the odds ratio (OR) was 4.32. A significant difference between underweight and anemia was revealed (p<0.001). A frequency of meat product, vegetables, and fruit consumption lower than 1.5 times per week increases the risk of anemia in schoolchildren., Conclusion: these findings showed a significant prevalence of anemia in all study groups associated with socioeconomic, anthropometric, and nutritional factors. However, further studies are needed to focus on interventions and etiologies in order to limit potential complications, especially in schoolchildren and pregnant women., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright: Saad Bakrim et al.)

Background: Reference intervals (RIs) for biochemical and hematological parameters are fundamental tools for clinical diagnosis, management, and therapeutic follow-up. In Morocco, the RIs used by clinical laboratories and physicians are derived from western populations. Also, RIs of biochemical and hematological parameters specific to the various Moroccan areas are lacking. This study aimed to determine RIs for biochemical and hematological parameters in apparently healthy voluntary adults by following the procedures recommended by the IFCC-CLSI guidelines in 2008 and comparing them to those of literature and other countries., Methods: A total of 768 healthy adults from 18 to 60 years old were recruited. Complete blood count and biochemical analyses were performed using hematology analyzer Sysmex KX21N® (Sysmex Corporation, Kobe, Japan) and COBAS INTEGRA®400 plus biochemistry analyzer (Roche, Diagnostics GmbH, Germany) at the laboratory of the hospital Mohamed VI of M'diq, Morocco, and went into effect between November 2017 and December 2020. The data analysis was made by the software SPSS 20.0 and RIs have been established by using the 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles., Results: RIs established include: glucose 3.90 - 6.76 mmol/L for males and 4.01 - 6.87 mmol/L for females; alanine aminotransferase 5.60 - 40.07 U/L for males and 5.60 - 38.71 U/L for females; aspartate aminotransferase 5.60 - 40.08 for males and 5.89 - 39.90 U/L for females; creatinine 47.73 - 113.15 μmol/L for males and 44.64 - 102.28 μmol/L for females; urea 2.2 - 7.6 mmol/L for males and 1.90 - 7.5 mmol/L for females; total cholesterol 2.71 - 5.46 mmol/L for males and 2.64 - 5.89 mmol/L for females; triglycerides 0.58 - 2.01 mmol/L for males and 0.55 - 2.08 mmol/L for females; high-density lipoprotein cholesterol 1.40 - 1.50 mmol/L for males and 1.40 - 1.65 mmol/L for females; and uric acid 157.3 - 410.8 μmol/L for males and 146.1 - 388.5 μmol/L for females. Concerning the hematological parameters, a significant difference (p < 0.05) between both genders was noted for the majority of pa rameters., Conclusions: The present study underlines the importance to establish RIs specific to the Moroccan population in each region for a more rational and reliable interpretation of biochemical and hematological testing in order to avoid errors in diagnosis and treatment of patients.