ABSTRACT
Deficiency of iron is the major cause of anaemia in the developing world, including India and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) is the most common public health nutritional deficiency world over. In 2011, WHO presented the haemoglobin level cut-offs for diagnosing anaemia in individuals and population groups. In India, nationally representative data on the prevalence of anaemia in pregnant women was first generated in the year 1989 by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Anaemia in children is a major public health problem in India. The prevalence of anaemia has remained consistently high and was in fact stagnant between 1970 and 2006. The most effective public health approach to prevent and control iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia is multiple integrated interventions comprising the following three main strategies: food-based approach, iron-folic acid supplementation and public-health interventions. In the mid-1990s, there was increased global attention to prevention of anaemia in the rapid growth period of adolescence.
