5. Conclusion
The overall prevalence of anemia among our sample was 23%.
The study indicates that in Kuwait the risk of anemia in 4–
5 year old children is affected by age, height for age, weight
for age, family size and maternal age and anemia. Strategies
to control anemia based on iron supplementation alone are
likely to have a limited effect. The current study provided
information directing the focus of any intervention to address
the other complex factors by ensuring dietary adequacy. Nutritional
interventions should be used only as a short term solution.
Sustainability of such programs needs to be considered
and serious consideration given to underpinning complex
issues such as maternal education and family size. Consideration
should be given to the creation of child care health centers
in all districts where mothers and maids can obtain
support and training in providing a healthy diet for all members
of the family, appropriate child care and budgeting and
household management. An immediate report of this study’s
Screening Survey is recommended, to establish if the prevalence
and factors have changed since almost 10 years ago. In
the future in Kuwait with continued focus on iron deficiency
anemia, it is hoped the prevalence will further reduce to less
than half the prevalence reported in this paper.
Conflict of interest
No authors declare a conflict of interest.