Iron deficiency in young Bradford children from different ethnic groups

Haematological parameters and iron state were studied in children admitted to hospital consecutively during a six month period. A total of 147 of 598 children (24.6%) were anaemic, with haemoglobin values below the third centile of the reference range, and 131 of 400 children (32.8%) were iron deficient, with serum ferritin concentrations less than 10 micrograms/l. Both findings were more common in children from the Asian ethnic minority. The "routine" full blood count is a useful tool for the presumptive identification of iron deficiency in childhood. Iron deficiency is deleterious to the health of young children. In view of its extent and degree--not exclusively among the Asian ethnic minority--a community based preventive programme on the lines of the Stop Rickets Campaign is recommended.