Objective: To find out prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among hospitalized children aged 6-months to 5 years at a tertiary care hospital of Poonch, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan.

Study Design: A cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of the Study: Department of Pediatrics, Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital, Rawlakot from July 2020 to December 2020.

Material and Methods: A total of 189 admitted children of both genders aged between 6 to 60 months were included. At the time of enrollment, age, gender, area of residence and socioeconomic status of all children were noted. To label IDA, a World Health Organization (WHO) criterion was adopted as hemoglobin below 11 g/dL. Chi square test was used to compare data between IDA and non-IDA children considering p-value < 0.05 as significant.

Results: Out of a total of 189 cases, there were 103 (54.5%) male. Overall, mean age was 29.3±6.8 months while 106 (56.1%) children were aged between 6 to 24 months. There were 130 (68.8%) children who belonged to rural areas of residence. Socio-economic status was low in 110 (58.2%) children. Malnourishment was identified in 38 (20.1%) children. Gastrointestinal disorders were the commonest reasons of admission found in 82 (43.4%) children. The prevalence of IDA was noted in 103 (54.5%) children. Table-2 is showing association of anemia with respect to various variables studied. Younger age (p=0.0091), rural area of residence (p=0.0039), low socio-economic status (p=0.0036) and malnourishment (p=0.0001) were observed to have significant association with the prevalence of IDA.

Conclusion: The prevalence of IDA was high (54.5%) in admitted children aged between 6 to 60 months. Younger age, rural area of residence, low socio-economic status and malnourishment were observed to have significant association with the prevalence of IDA.

Keywords: Iron deficiency anemia, hemoglobin, malnourishment, gastrointestinal disorders.