[Prevalence of anemia in a sample of school children in Durango City]

The circulatory levels of hemoglobin and the frequency of anemia were determined in a representative sample of children with a mean age of 6.7 years. A random sample of 500 children of the city of Durango was studied. Durango has an altitude of 1893 m above sea level. The mean value of hemoglobin was 12.57 g/100 ml, with a range of 9.4 to 15.0 and a SE of 0.05. There was no difference statistically significant between the sexes. Considering 12.0 as the lower normal limit for hemoglobin values, it was found that 16% of the children were anemic, 49% of the anemic children were iron deficient, with iron serum levels of less than 60 ug/100 ml. The relationship between anemia and number of living children, birth order and weight was established. The frequency of anemia was higher among children coming from families with 4 or more living children.