Nutritional assessment of rural villages and estates in Peninsular Malaysia*. III. Prevalence of anaemia

As a part of the recent UPM-IMR collaborative study on the nutritional status of communities in rural villages and estates in Peninsular Malaysia from 1992-1995, this report presents findings on the haemoglobin levels and the prevalence of anaemia amongst these rural dwellers. A total of 69 villages and 7 estates located in 9 states in Peninsular Malaysia were studied. Results of the study on the 5 communities (total n=8024), namely fishing, padi, rubber, coconut and estate communities, are presented according to five age groups, namely less than 7 years (n=1418), 7-12.9 years (n=1778), 13-17.9 years (n=701), 18-59.9 years (n=3241) and 60 years (n=886). The extent of the anaemia problem varied considerably amongst the various age groups and community types. The prevalence of anaemia and mean Hb level (g/dl) for subjects of both sexes were respectively 24% and 12.1 for those < 7 years; 21.9% and 13.0 for the 7-12.9 years old; 17.8% and 13.7 for the 13-17.9 years; 21.0% and 13.8 for 18-59.9 years; and 22.7% and 13.6 for those 60 years of age and above. While the female adults (18-59.9 years) had a significantly higher prevalence rate for anaemia of 25% compared to 14% found in the male adults, no significant difference in the prevalence rates were found between the sexes for the other age groups. The problem was most serious among adult women, young children and the elderly. Amongst the various community types, the fishing community had the highest prevalence of anaemia at an overall rate of 50%, taking into consideration both sexes and all age groups. The rubber smallholders, in contrast, had the lowest prevalence of anaemia, at an overall rate of about 10%. Intervention and preventive health programmes should therefore be continued to be focussed on the above groups of rural subjects, particularly those in the fishing community.