Determinants of Pre-Anemia among Healthy University Students

Abstract

Background: Hemoglobin levels might not predict pre-anemic states neither do they predict signs and symptoms of iron deficiency in healthy people. Poor dietary habits along with other risk factors might predict risk of developing anemia. Aims: We aim at determining the risk factors associated with prediction of pre-anemia and the level of awareness of anemia among students. Methods: This is a cross- sectional study where capillary blood samples were collected from a random sample of 200 healthy university students on campus during February 2018. Hematocrit and hemoglobin values were determined for all students. A previously validated questionnaire was distributed on participants to collect social, health and dietary data. Results: The prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anemia among students was 22%. It was shown that students dietary habits had a moderate effect on Iron Deficiency Anemia, arithmetic mean ± SD was (2.97 ± 0.54). There was 1.3 - 2.1 folds increase in risk of Iron Deficiency Anemia for students with poor dietary habits. Almost 57% of students who have low hemoglobin levels have normal Body Mass Index (BMI). On the other hand, 22.7% of students who have low hemoglobin levels were either overweight or obese. There was a significance difference in anemia prevalence (α = 0.002) between underweight and overweight groups. The level of awareness of major aspects of anemia ranged from moderate to high, mean ± SD (2.44 ± 1.35) to (3.88 ± 1.14). Conclusion: Overweight, poor dietary habits as related to iron intake and low level of awareness of anemia were associated with high prevalence of pre-and/or anemic states. Whether eating disorder lead to anemia or anemia lead to eating behavior disorder, need to be investigated.