OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to get basic information about the nutritional status of institutionalized preschool children who attend full time day-care centers in the city of Jardinópolis, São Paulo, Brazil, with the purpose of preparing a fortification trial. METHODS: This cross-sectional study enrolled 184 children, aged 12 to 59.9 months, between August 1st to 31st, 2006. Personal data on each child along with weight, height, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), transferrin saturation and the red cell distribution width (RDW) were obtained. RESULTS: Anemia was present in 29.3% of the children and the mean hemoglobin value for the whole group was 11.5g/dL. Iron deficiency was observed in 75% of all children. Deficit prevalence (Z score <-2) of weight to age, height to age and weight for height was found to be 1.6%, 0.5% and 4.3% respectively. The presence of obesity (Z score of weight for height >2) was 2.2%. CONCLUSIONS: Although less than noted in other Brazilian studies, the prevalence of anemia was high. The anthropometry showed that macronutrients offer is next to the ideal, but the high prevalence of iron deficient children indicates the need to adopt strategies to improve iron supply.
Anemia; iron deficiency; nutrition assessment
