Comprehensive Review of Preschool Age Anemia in the Pacific Island Jurisdictions

Anemia can be an indicator of poor nutrition and health, and it can have significant consequences. Children are disproportionately affected by anemia. This comprehensive review summarizes the available literature on anemia prevalence in young children in the islands of the Oceania region. The anemia prevalence, the criteria used for diagnosis, the date the data was reported, and the types of samples collected were reviewed. Anemia prevalence estimates were reported for eighteen of the Pacific Island Jurisdictions. From the fifteen data sources that were evaluable, anemia prevalence ranged from 12.3% to over 70%. A major limitation in the data is a lack of representative primary data from many of the jurisdictions in the region. Prevalance estimates reported for those jurisdictions are estimated by regression analysis from the World Health Organization (WHO). Moreover, the primary data available does not use standardized reporting criteria. Nevertheless, this review serves as a new baseline for further investigations on the prevalence of anemia and a baseline for evaluating public health prevention and treatment measures to detect and improve anemia prevalence in the Pacific.