Iron nutrition status assessment

Haemoglobin and Volume of Packed Red Cell(VPRC) estimations were done on a sample of 2,821 mothers (15-65 years) and children (0-12 years) belonging to low income families, drawn randomly from fifteen remote villages in Andhra Pradesh. Correlation was done between the two sets of values. By the haemoglobin estimate, 84.9, 82.6 and 78.4 per cent of mothers, pre-school and school-age children respectively were anaemic. By the VPRC measure, anaemia was detected only in 49.6, 33.6 and 48.0 per cent of mothers, pre-school and school-age children respectively. The extent of anaemia is greater by haemoglobin estimation, compared to that of VPRC estimation. Correlation was not observed between the two sets of values. Therefore, haemoglobin appears predictive of the degree prevalence of anaemia and is to be preferred in screening population for anaemia. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.