Kuwait is a small wealthy country with an area of
17,818 km.2 The discovery of oil in 1940s changed the living
standards of Kuwait citizens dramatically with high standard
of living, which includes free medical care, education, and
other amenities together with increased income. As a result,
food habits have changed from traditional to western foods
with high energy density meals replacing carbohydrate based
staples.2
Over the last few decades, there have been a number of
studies indicating that anemia is a significant public health
problem in the State of Kuwait. Most of these studies have
been performed on adult women or children. Surveys suggest
that iron deficiency is the most likely cause of anemia in
Kuwait.3–5 Overall, various studies have estimated the prevalence
of anemia to be between 25 and 37% among young adult
women.6 The prevalence of anemia among preschool-age children
in Kuwait remains relatively high.
The identification of children who are at risk is vital. Determination
of the related factors between mothers and children is
needed for the development of successful education intervention
programs. Only two studies have previously been conducted
in Kuwait studying anemia and associated factors;
the first was conducted in 1996 and covered the nutritional status
of preschool children in general including anemia.7 The
second study was conducted only in one district of Kuwait
on children aged 2–10 years8
Therefore, the present study had the aims of estimating the
prevalence of anemia and identifying the associated factors
among Kuwaiti children aged 4–5 years.