SUMMARY
Prevalence of anemia, iron deficiency and folate in children smaller than seven years. Costa Rica, 1996
In 1996, were studied in Costa Rica 961 children with ages between one and six years, with representation for metropolitan, urban and rural zones of the country. The classification approaches applied were emitted by the Pan-American Health Organization and the World Health Organization. The preschooler population presented in the national environment a prevalence of anemia of 26,3% (children from 1 to 4 years with hemoglobin < 11,0 g/dL and those from 5 to 6 years old with hemoglobin < 12,0 g/dL). The prevalence of Iron depletion (Ferritin< 12 ng/mL) and iron deficiency (Ferritin < 24 ng/mL) were 24,4% and 53,8%, respectively. The folate deficiency (< 6,0 ng/mL) was 11,4%. The iron deficiency was higher in children smaller than 4 years, being the maximum deficiency in the 1 year-old (75%). More than 40% of the preschool children presented sub-clinical deficiency of iron; of them, 10% showed severe deficiency of iron without presence of anemia. The children from the rural area presented the highest prevalence of anemia and iron depletion, while the metropolitan area met more frequency with iron deficiency. The nutritional anemias still constitute a moderate problem of public health in Costa Rica. The main cause is iron deficiency, associated in small proportion with folate deficiency and other factors associated with the erythropoiesis.

Key words: Anemia, erythropoiesis, iron, folate, ferritin, nutritional deficiency.

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