Iron deficiency anaemia in infants attended at municipal primary health care centres in Rio de Janeiro – Brazil

This study evaluated the prevalence of anaemia and its association with various risk factors in 500 infants attended at two municipal primary health care centres in Rio de Janeiro. Anaemia was assessed using a portable haemoglobinometer (HemoCue). Nutritional status was assessed via weight/age, weight/height and height/age indices. The cut off value –2 z score was used to define underweight, wasted and stunted children according to the National Centre for Health and Statistics – NCHS – curves. Socio‐economic and biological data were obtained from the child’s mother through the use of questionnaires. No association was corroborated between the prevalence of anaemia and the studied risk factors. Development of primary health care intervention is important as a means of reducing the incidence of anaemia in infants, especially in boys and children in the second semester of life, who demonstrated a higher risk.