Anaemia – The Most Common Nutritional Deficiency In The World

Fatigue. Weakness. Dizziness. Lightheadedness. Drowsiness. These are some of the symptoms of the most common nutritional deficiency in the world, with 33% of reproductive-aged women suffering from it worldwide. That’s around 613 million women aged between 15 and 49 who lack a vital micronutrient! It’s imperative that we, as a global community, work towards reducing the prevalence of this deficiency, primarily through nutritional-based interventions.

What is it?

Predominately caused by blood loss, faulty red blood cell production (mostly due to nutritional deficiency), and/or red blood cell destruction, anaemia is a condition of the blood characterized by a reduction in the concentration of red blood cells, or the oxygen-carrying protein haemoglobin, below normal levels. Diagnosis of anaemia, along with which type of anaemia a patient has, is made only through a blood test. Symptoms of anaemia include: Fatigue Dizziness and faintness Thirst Shortness of breath A weak, rapid pulse Anaemia can be treated in a variety of ways, of which the most common are: Iron supplements (ideally taken with Vitamin C) Increasing consumption of iron-rich foods (e.g. red meat and dark leafy greens) Blood, or blood component, infusion.

Contributing factors

At an individual level, causative factors of anaemia can be easily identified, and include things such as nutritional deficiencies, which are most likely caused through a poor diet, although may be due to impaired absorption. Absorption impairment can be caused by certain medications (such as aspirin) and certain medical conditions that affect the digestive tract (such as colon cancer). In reproductive-aged women, the main contributing factor to their increased risk of developing anaemia is due to regular blood loss through menstruation, as well as during pregnancy, where nutrient requirements increase due to the growing fetus. This places them at the highest risk of iron-deficiency anaemia, the most common form of anaemia.

Beyond the individual, community-wide contributing factors can be identified. In developing regions, these are primarily surrounding a lack of access to iron-rich foods, which can be attributed to poor income and living conditions. Furthermore, infectious diseases, especially malaria and intestinal parasites, that are prevalent in many developing nations, can impair the absorption of essential nutrients (e.g. iron, B12), thus inhibiting red blood cell production.

What we’re doing

Around the globe, progress is being made to help combat anaemia in reproductive-aged women, and while on an individual level, combating anaemia might seem simple, it can present many challenges, some of which require larger scale interventions that go beyond individual measures.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is currently leading the fight against anaemia amongst reproductive-aged women through the development of their 2025 Global Nutrition Targets. These are six targets dedicated to improving infant, child, and maternal nutrition. Target number two is to reduce the prevalence of anaemia in reproductive-aged women by 50%, which, based on the 2012 prevalence of 29%, the 2025 goal is to reduce prevalence to 15%. To achieve this goal, the WHO has outlined a number of nutrition-specific recommendations with the aim for countries to include them in their policies. These recommendations include: Daily or intermittent iron supplementation for women who are menstruating Increase production and consumption of iron-rich foods Food fortification (e.g. wheat fortification in high prevalence areas) For example, the ‘Girls Iron and Folic Acid Tablet Supplementation‘ program that recently launched in Ghana, has shown that regional iron supplementation programs can be implemented successfully.

Along with the work being done by the WHO to combat anaemia in reproductive-aged women, a unique approach to the issue has been taken by Dr. Gavin Armstrong, founder of Lucky Iron Fish Enterprise (LIFE), the company whose main goal is to eliminate anemia and iron-deficiency. Through their Buy-One-Give-One program, for every Lucky Iron Fish sold, the company will donate a fish to communities in need. Through this incentive, LIFE has helped over 127,000 people!

What needs to be done

Despite current efforts being made to help reduce the prevalence of anaemia in reproductive-aged women, we still have a long way to go in order to reach the WHO’s second 2025 Global Nutrition Target. Recent findings have shown that no country is currently on track to reaching the target, however, 30% of countries have made progress. Based on these findings, the WHO has provided more recommendations to encourage global progress towards reaching the target. These include: Women’s health improvement programs, programs aimed at reducing micronutrient deficiencies, improving access to resources such as food, education, and healthcare.

Looking to the future

To ensure we achieve the second 2025 Global Nutrition Target, there are several challenges we must first overcome when heading into the future. Anaemia is a complex issue, and thus needs to be dealt with at several levels, tackling both individual and community factors that are contributing to the high prevalence amongst reproductive-aged women. The biggest challenge we face in combating anaemia amongst reproductive-aged women is the high global spending required for nutrition-specific interventions. The World Bank estimates at least US $3900 million dollars will be needed annually for nutrition-specific interventions targeting anaemia in women, stunting, severe acute malnutrition, and the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding. However, if we don’t invest in interventions, we will see another 265 million more women develop anaemia.