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Journal of Nutrition Research
An official journal of IAPEN India association

Article

Iron Deficiency Anemia Screening in Children Across Indian Prominent Cities
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Journal of Nutrition Research

DOI: 10.55289/jnutres/v13i1.25.ranu

Year: 2025, Volume: 13, Issue: 1, Pages: 31-36

Original Article

Iron Deficiency Anemia Screening in Children Across Indian Prominent Cities

Ranu Singh1∗, Eileen Canday2, Shilpa Chadha Thakur3, Haritha Bathina4, Prasanthi Suryanarayana5, Soumyendu Ghosh6, Aashani Doshi7, Binu Bhatia8, Samapti Maity9

1 Chief Programme Officer, Community Nutrition Core Group, IAPEN India
2 Head of Nutrition & Dietetics, Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital, Maharashtra, India
3 Founder & Director, Mindful EatingWshilpa, Senior Consultant, Clinical Nutrition & Dietetics
4 Chief Dietician, Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad, India
5 Chief Dietitian, Basavatarakam Indo American Cancer Hospital, Telangana, India
6 Senior Consultant Dietitian & Diabetes Educator; Founder & Director, Cognize Nutrition, Member-IAPEN India Community Core Group
7 Clinical Dietician, Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital, Maharashtra, India
8 Consultant Nutritionist, Treasurer, IAPEN India Delhi Chapter
9 Dietician, SAP Wellness

 

*Corresponding Author
Email: [email protected]

Received Date:01 August 2025, Accepted Date:25 August 2025, Published Date:04 September 2025

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Abstract

Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) remains a critical public health issue among children under six, adversely impacting growth, cognitive development, and school readiness. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of anemia among children aged 1–6 years across five major Indian metropolitan cities to generate actionable insights. A cross-sectional screening was conducted between February and May 2025 in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Lucknow. The children aged 1–6 years were screened using the non-invasive Masimo Rad-67™ hemoglobinometer. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin <11 g/dL per WHO standards. A total of 3,395 children were included after obtaining parental consent and applying exclusion criteria. The overall prevalence of anemia was 39.2%, with higher rates in girls (43.5%) and younger children aged 1–4 years (35.2%). The prevalence among children aged 1–6 years was as mentioned, Kolkata (47.1%), Mumbai (42.3%), Delhi (38.1%), Hyderabad (35.5%), and Lucknow (32.7%). Despite better healthcare access in urban settings, city-wise differences were observed, indicating variable risk factors and nutritional environments. Urban childhood anemia prevalence is lower than national averages but still a significant concern, especially in cities like Kolkata. The study emphasizes the need for non invasie anemia screening at point of care to enable localized interventions and improve public health outcomes through more efficient resource allocation and program design.

Keywords

Anemia, Children, Gender disparities, Public health, Hemoglobin Screening

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Copyright

© This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Published By India Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (IAPEN)

  • 16 September 2025

Year: 2025, Volume: 13, Issue: 1


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