ANAEMIA IN MEN

• A recent study found that three out of ten men in rural areas in India were anaemic.
• Prevalence of anaemia among men in rural areas was lowest in the southern states (18.5%) & highest in the eastern region(34.1%).

• Anaemia among adolescent girls, and boys; women of reproductive age are studied extensively but men have been ignored largely.
• As per a report in 2019, nearly one in four men(23.2%) in the age group 15-54 years in India were anaemic.
• The conclusion was based on the analysis of over 1,06,000 men from the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey.
• Men are considered to have anaemia if haemoglobin concentration is less than 13.0 g/dL.
• Iron deficiency is the main cause of anaemia; other causes are folate, vitamin B12, and vitamin A deficiency.

• Three out of ten men in rural areas & one in five urban men are anaemic, while three out of every ten rural men are anaemic.
• Prevalence of anaemia was found to be higher (34.7%) among men who were underweight compared with men who were overweight (19.3%).
• Men who consume alcohol & smoke had slightly higher & older men were found to be more vulnerable.
• Anaemia prevalence was 27.2% in the northern region, 28.9% in the west, 26.9% in the northwest & 25% in the central region.
• Latest study does not categorically state that anaemia in rural men is due to iron deficiency.
• But previous studies have found that nearly 60% of anaemia in children & women of reproductive age is due to iron deficiency., Unlike women, men do not lose iron unless they are bleeding somewhere or have some abnormal haemoglobin like thalassemia or sickle cell anaemia.

• The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey data showed that in children, only one-third of the anaemia could be solely ascribed to iron deficiency.
• Another one-third were mixed B vitamin deficiency & the remaining one-third were unknown causes.
• Despite not being sure if iron deficiency is indeed responsible for anaemia in rural men, the benefits of existing programmes, and policies related to anaemia eradication should be extended to men also.
• Targeted interventions among susceptible groups of rural men are advised as a way to reduce the prevalence of anaemia.
• Since 60% of anaemia is due to iron deficiency, it might be useful to provide iron supplementation for men to address anaemia.
• Another factor that might have overestimated the prevalence of anaemia in rural men is the use of capillary blood samples to measure haemoglobin.
• Capillary blood samples inflate anaemia prevalence by as much as 33%-50% in women.
• Increasing the diversity of foods to improve iron & vitamin intake in men, may help to reduce anaemia.