Anaemia is particularly prominent in south Asia. In India, for example, upto 88% of pregnant and 74% of non-pregnant women are affected. ThroughoutAfrica, about 50% of pregnant and 40% of non-pregnant women are anaemic.West Africa is the most affected, and southern Africa the least. In Latin Americaand the Caribbean, prevalences of anaemia in pregnant and non-pregnantwomen are about 40% and 30% respectively. The highest levels are in theCaribbean, reaching 60% in pregnant women on some islands (51, 21).Prevalence data for various age groups are not available for all countries.However, the prevalence rate among preschool children is usually similar to,or higher than, the rate among pregnant women. Epidemiological mappingof prevalence requires cut-off levels, or criteria for grading the public healthseverity of anaemia. Table 3 provides a provisional schema for this purpose.In most industrialized countries, the prevalence of anaemia among pregnantwomen is around 20%. It is therefore considered reasonable to classify thesepopulations as having a medium prevalence, since a prevalence of up to 5%may not necessarily be regarded as abnormal in any population.
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