Abstract

Anaemia is a major public health problem in developing countries, contributing significantly to morbidity and
mortality in children less than five years of age. It is considered to be a major public health problem with prevalence
of 67%, equivalent to 83.5 million children in Sub Saharan Africa. Anaemia is one of the largest killers of children
admitted to hospitals in Sub-Saharan Africa. Even where blood transfusions are available there is a significant case
fatality rate of 6-18%. Characteristics most strongly associated with low Hb levels were age and sex of the child,
place of birth, complementary foods their type and time of introduction, diseases especially malaria was significantly
(30.8%) associated, low level of education and unemployment among caretakers. This seminar recommended health
worker should encourage caregiver to children with anaemia to serve iron rich foods such as fortified baby cereal,
pureed meats and pureed beans for infants and for older children red meats, chicken, fish, beans and spinach. the
preventive strategies include continuous use of insecticide treated nets, iron Supplements to low birth weight infants
and all other infants, fortification of foods, counseling on the type of complementary and weaning foods and
intermittent anti-malarial treatment alongside vaccination