Haematocrit levels and anaemia in Australian children aged 1-4 years

The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of anaemia, mean haematocrit levels, and the risk factors influencing haematocrit in participants of the 1995 National Survey of Lead in Children. A nationally-representative cross-sectional survey of children aged 1-4 years inclusive was done. Mean haematocrit and the proportion with anaemia using both the US and WHO haematocrit-based criteria were calculated. Multivariate regression was used to identify factors associated with haematocrit. Mean haematocrit level was 38.8% (95% Cl: 38.6 - 39.1%) and varied with age of child, state/territory of residence and whether the child was taking supplements. It did not vary by sex, Aboriginal identification, maternal birthplace, whether the child ate meat or any other selected characteristic. The factors identified explained only 4% of the variation in haematocrit levels. The prevalence of anaemia was 3.3% (95% Cl: 2.4 - 4.5%) based on the US criteria and 2.0% (95% Cl: 1.3 3.1%) based on the WHO criteria. The prevalence of anaemia in this national survey was lower than the prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia reported in several more localised studies.