A Children’s Health Fund study shows that about 41 percent of children under the age of four displaced by Katrina suffered iron deficiency anemia.
The figure is twice the rate of homeless children served by family shelters in New York City, and more than four times the national rate for children of that age. Twenty-nine percent of obese children were also diagnosed with anemia.
Children surveyed were treated by mobile health clinics at Renaissance Village, the largest of the FEMA trailer villages, and Baton Rouge schools.
Anemia is a lack of enough healthy red blood cells to transport oxygen to the body’s organs. It is caused by inadequate diet and is associated with delays in child development and learning.
Louisiana has one of the highest anemia rates; with roughly 24 percent of all children below the age of five being affected. The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia is higher in low-income and oppressed communities where families do not have adequate access to food.
