Worldwide prevalence of anaemia, WHO Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System, 1993–2005
Open accessAbstract
Objective: To provide current global and regional estimates of anaemia prevalence and number of persons affected in the total population and by population subgroup. Setting and design: We used anaemia prevalence data from the WHO Vitamin and Mineral Nutrition Information System for 1993–2005 to generate anaemia prevalence estimates for countries with data representative at the national level or at the first administrative level that is below the national level. For countries without eligible data, we employed regression-based estimates, which used the UN Human Development Index (HDI) and other health indicators. We combined country estimates, weighted by their population, to estimate anaemia prevalence at the global level, by UN Regions and by category of human development. Results: Survey data covered 48·8 % of the global population, 76·1 % of preschool-aged children, 69·0 % of pregnant women and 73·5 % of non-pregnant women. The estimated global anaemia prevalence is 24·8 % (95 % CI 22·9, 26·7 %), affecting 1·62 billion people (95 % CI 1·50, 1·74 billion). Estimated anaemia prevalence is 47·4 % (95 % CI 45·7, 49·1 %) in preschool-aged children, 41·8 % (95 % CI 39·9, 43·8 %) in pregnant women and 30·2 % (95 % CI 28·7, 31·6 %) in non-pregnant women. In numbers, 293 million (95 % CI 282, 303 million) preschool-aged children, 56 million (95 % CI 54, 59 million) pregnant women and 468 million (95 % CI 446, 491 million) non-pregnant women are affected. Conclusion: Anaemia affects one-quarter of the world’s population and is concentrated in preschool-aged children and women, making it a global public health problem. Data on relative contributions of causal factors are lacking, however, which makes it difficult to effectively address the problem.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Infections play a significant role in interfering with nutrient intake and absorption, which results in anemia.
“Infections play a significant role in interfering with nutrient intake and absorption, which results in anemia [3].”
From Prevalence of Anemia and Its Associated Factors Among 6–59‐Month‐Old Children in Ayder Comprehensive Specialized Referral Hospital, Northern Ethiopia (2026) · cites this paper as [3]
The paper’s introductory passage identifies malaria, intestinal helminths and chronic infection as possible contributors to anaemia. It does not say that infections cause anaemia by interfering with nutrient intake or absorption, and the Discussion says data on the relative contributions of causes are lacking. No page numbers are available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Projections of Global Mortality and Burden of Disease from 2002 to 2030
Mathers, C. D., & Loncar, D. (2006) · PLoS Medicine · doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0030442 · Cited by 11,386 · see citing works
Applied Linear Statistical Models
Ziegel, E. R., Neter, J., Wasserman, W., & Kutner, M. (1992) · Technometrics · doi:10.2307/1269588 · Cited by 9,906 · see citing works
World Population Prospects The 2006 Revision
Zlotnik, H. (2007) · United Nations eBooks · Cited by 7,896 · see citing works
Applied Linear Statistical Models
Kutner, M., Nachtsheim, C. J., Neter, J., & Li, W. (1997) · Technometrics · doi:10.1080/00401706.1997.10485141 · Cited by 7,186 · see citing works
Ziegel, E. R., & Lohr, S. L. (2000) · Technometrics · doi:10.2307/1271491 · Cited by 2,450 · see citing works
Mathematical Statistics With Applications
Meek, G. E., Mendenhall, W. M., Scheaffer, R. L., & Wackerly, D. D. (1987) · Technometrics · doi:10.2307/1269356 · Cited by 1,426 · see citing works
The prevalence of anaemia in the world.
Demaeyer, E. M., & Adiels-Tegman, M. (1985) · PubMed · Cited by 808 · see citing works
Logistic Regression Using the SAS® System
(2000) · Technometrics · doi:10.1080/00401706.2000.10486078 · Cited by 351 · see citing works
The prevalence of anaemia in women : a tabulation of available information
Safe Motherhood Programme, & Nutrition Programme (1992) · World Health Organization eBooks · Cited by 269 · see citing works
INFLUENCE OF ANOXEMIA ON THE HEMOPOIETIC ACTIVITY
Hurtado, A. (1945) · Archives of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/archinte.1945.00210290007002 · Cited by 260 · see citing works
The Effect of Cigarette Smoking on Hemoglobin Levels and Anemia Screening
Nordenberg, D. F. (1990) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.1990.03450120068031 · Cited by 232 · see citing works
MENSTRUAL AND REPRODUCTWE CHARACTERISTICS AND AGE AT NATURAL MENOPAUSE
Whelan, E. A., Sandler, D. P., McConnaughey, D. R., et al. (1990) · American Journal of Epidemiology · doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a115546 · Cited by 222 · see citing works
Iron Nutrition in Health and Disease
Beard, J. (1997) · American Journal of Clinical Nutrition · doi:10.1093/ajcn/66.5.1297 · Cited by 156 · see citing works
Iron Nutrition in Health And Disease
Hallberg, L., & Nestor, J. G. (1996) · Cited by 129 · see citing works
The Clinical Significance of Hemodilution during Pregnancy
KOLLER, O. (1982) · Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey · doi:10.1097/00006254-198211000-00001 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Iron Supplement Use among Women in the United States: Science, Policy and Practice
Cogswell, M. E., Kettel-Khan, L., & Ramakrishnan, U. (2003) · Journal of Nutrition · doi:10.1093/jn/133.6.1974s · Cited by 89 · see citing works
Self-citationRoyston, E. (1982) · PubMed · Cited by 62 · see citing works
The effect of cigarette smoking on hemoglobin levels and anemia screening
Nordenberg, D. (1990) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.264.12.1556 · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Role of the food industry in iron nutrition: iron intake from industrial food products.
Hurrell, R. F., Jacob, S., Hallberg, L., et al. (1996) · Cited by 10 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Human Development Indicators (2004) In Human Devel- opment Report 2004: Cultural Liberty in Today's Diverse World, pp. 139-250 [
Cited by
Sorted by citations
The epidemiology of global micronutrient deficiencies
Bailey, R. L., West Jr., K. P., & Black, R. E. (2015) · Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism · doi:10.1159/000371618 · Cited by 2,035 · see citing works
Daru, J., Zamora, J., Fernández-Félix, B. M., Vogel, J., Oladapo, O. T., Morisaki, N., Tunçalp, Ö., Torloni, M. R., Mittal, S., Jayaratne, K., et al. (2018) · The Lancet Global Health · doi:10.1016/s2214-109x(18)30078-0 · Cited by 436 · see citing works
Food system strategies for preventing micronutrient malnutrition
Miller, B. D. D., & Welch, R. M. (2013) · Food Policy · doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2013.06.008 · Cited by 366 · see citing works
Perinatal iron deficiency and neurocognitive development
Radlowski, E. C., & Johnson, R. W. (2013) · Frontiers in Human Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnhum.2013.00585 · Cited by 315 · see citing works
Detection of anaemia from retinal fundus images via deep learning
Mitani, A., Huang, A., Venugopalan, S., Corrado, G. S., Peng, L., Webster, D. R., Hammel, N., Liu, Y., & Varadarajan, A. V. (2019) · Nature Biomedical Engineering · doi:10.1038/s41551-019-0487-z · Cited by 230 · see citing works
Aberrant iron distribution via hepatocyte-stellate cell axis drives liver lipogenesis and fibrosis
Gao, H., Jin, Z., Bandyopadhyay, G., Wang, G., Zhang, D., Rocha, K. C. E., Liu, X., Zhao, H., Kisseleva, T., Brenner, D. A., et al. (2022) · Cell Metabolism · doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2022.07.006 · Cited by 224 · see citing works
Wouters, H. J. C. M., van der Klauw, M. M., de Witte, T., Stauder, R., Swinkels, D. W., Wolffenbuttel, B. H. R., & Huls, G. (2019) · Haematologica · doi:10.3324/haematol.2018.195552 · Cited by 157 · see citing works
Ngui, R., Lim, Y. A. L., Chong Kin, L., Sek Chuen, C., & Jaffar, S. (2012) · PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases · doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0001550 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Fairweather-Tait, S. J., Wawer, A. A., Gillings, R., Jennings, A., & Myint, P. K. (2014) · Mechanisms of Ageing and Development · doi:10.1016/j.mad.2013.11.005 · Cited by 159 · see citing works
Serum ferritin thresholds for the diagnosis of iron deficiency in pregnancy: A systematic review
Daru, J., Allotey, J., Peña‐Rosas, J. P., & Khan, K. S. (2017) · Transfusion Medicine · doi:10.1111/tme.12408 · Cited by 138 · see citing works
Gebreweld, A., Ali, N., Ali, R., & Fisha, T. (2019) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0218961 · Cited by 128 · see citing works
Houston, B. L., Hurrie, D., Graham, J., Perija, B., Rimmer, E., Rabbani, R., Bernstein, C. N., Turgeon, A. F., Fergusson, D. A., Houston, D. S., et al. (2018) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019240 · Cited by 126 · see citing works
Abriha, A., Yesuf, M. E., & Wassie, M. M. (2014) · BMC Research Notes · doi:10.1186/1756-0500-7-888 · Cited by 121 · see citing works
Adamu, A. L., Crampin, A., Kayuni, N., Amberbir, A., Koole, O., Phiri, A., Nyirenda, M., & Fine, P. (2017) · Population Health Metrics · doi:10.1186/s12963-017-0128-2 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Adam, I., Ibrahim, Y., & Elhardello, O. (2018) · BMC Hematology · doi:10.1186/s12878-018-0124-1 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Nankinga, O., & Aguta, D. (2019) · BMC Public Health · doi:10.1186/s12889-019-8114-1 · Cited by 97 · see citing works
Antenatal iron and folic acid supplementation use by pregnant women in Khartoum, Sudan
Abdullahi, H., Gasim, G. I., Saeed, A., Imam, A. M., & Adam, I. (2014) · BMC Research Notes · doi:10.1186/1756-0500-7-498 · Cited by 88 · see citing works
Getachew, M., Abay, M., Zelalem, H., Gebremedhin, T., Grum, T., & Bayray, A. (2018) · BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth · doi:10.1186/s12884-018-1716-2 · Cited by 84 · see citing works
Rensvold, J. W., Ong, S.-E., Jeevananthan, A., Carr, S. A., Mootha, V. K., & Pagliarini, D. J. (2013) · Cell Reports · doi:10.1016/j.celrep.2012.11.029 · Cited by 82 · see citing works
Gebremariam, A. D., Tiruneh, S. A., Abate, B. A., Engidaw, M. T., & Asnakew, D. T. (2019) · PLOS ONE · doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0210086 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Elbarbary, M., Honda, T., Morgan, G., Guo, Y., Guo, Y., Kowal, P., & Negin, J. (2020) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph17093209 · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Weight loss, inflammatory markers, and improvements of iron status in overweight and obese children
Gong, L., Yuan, F., Teng, J., Li, X., Zheng, S., Lin, L., Deng, H., Ma, G., Sun, C., & Li, Y. (2014) · The Journal of Pediatrics · doi:10.1016/j.jpeds.2013.12.004 · Cited by 51 · see citing works
Muchie, K. F. (2016) · BMC Nutrition · doi:10.1186/s40795-016-0093-3 · Cited by 44 · see citing works
Lomagno, K., Hu, F., Riddell, L., Booth, A., Szymlek-Gay, E., Nowson, C., & Byrne, L. (2014) · Nutrients · doi:10.3390/nu6115117 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Alemu, T., & Umeta, M. (2015) · Anemia · doi:10.1155/2015/649815 · Cited by 38 · see citing works
“Maternal death continues to be a major health and development concern globally, particularly in the developing world [1, 2].”
BackgroundYadav, K., Ahamed, F., Kant, S., Saxena, R., Bairwa, M., & Pandav, C. (2018) · Indian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.4103/ijph.ijph_313_17 · Cited by 35 · see citing works
The iron link between malaria and invasive non-typhoid Salmonella infections
van Santen, S., de Mast, Q., Swinkels, D. W., & van der Ven, A. J. A. M. (2013) · Trends in Parasitology · doi:10.1016/j.pt.2013.03.006 · Cited by 33 · see citing works
Onyeneho, N. G., I’Aronu, N., Chukwu, N., Agbawodikeizu, U. P., Chalupowski, M., & Subramanian, S. V. (2016) · Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition · doi:10.1186/s41043-016-0068-7 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Zhou, H., Sun, S., Luo, R., Sylvia, S., Yue, A., Shi, Y., Zhang, L., Medina, A., & Rozelle, S. (2016) · American Journal of Public Health · doi:10.2105/ajph.2016.303140 · Cited by 26 · see citing works
Andarge, S. D., Areba, A. S., Kabthymer, R. H., Legesse, M. T., & Kanno, G. G. (2021) · Journal of Primary Care & Community Health · doi:10.1177/21501327211034374 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
Normal systemic iron homeostasis in mice with macrophage-specific deletion of transferrin receptor 2
Rishi, G., Secondes, E. S., Wallace, D. F., & Subramaniam, V. N. (2016) · American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology · doi:10.1152/ajpgi.00291.2015 · Cited by 21 · see citing works
Eisenmangelanämie und Anämie der chronischen Erkrankungen
Metzgeroth, G., & Hastka, J. (2015) · Der Internist · doi:10.1007/s00108-015-3711-2 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
Mghanga, F. P., Genge, C. M., Yeyeye, L., Twalib, Z., Kibopile, W., Rutalemba, F. J., & Shengena, T. M. (2017) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.1499 · Cited by 18 · see citing works
What Does Iron Mean to an Oligodendrocyte?
Wade, Q. W., & Connor, J. R. (2025) · Glia · doi:10.1002/glia.70043 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Azcárate, I. G., Sánchez-Jaut, S., Marín-García, P., Linares, M., Pérez-Benavente, S., García-Sánchez, M., Uceda, J., Kamali, A. N., Morán-Jiménez, M.-J., Puyet, A., et al. (2017) · Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease · doi:10.1016/j.bbadis.2017.09.027 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Prevalence of iron deficiency using 3 definitions among women in the US and Canada
Barton, J. C., Wiener, H. W., Barton, J. C., & Acton, R. T. (2024) · JAMA Network Open · doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.13967 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Modeling the dynamics of mouse iron body distribution: hepcidin is necessary but not sufficient
Parmar, J. H., Davis, G., Shevchuk, H., & Mendes, P. (2017) · BMC Systems Biology · doi:10.1186/s12918-017-0431-3 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Micronutrient Fortification at Child-Care Centers Reduces Anemia in Young Children
Arcanjo, F. P. N., da Costa Rocha, T. C., Arcanjo, C. P. C., & Santos, P. R. (2019) · Journal of Dietary Supplements · doi:10.1080/19390211.2018.1474987 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
Ahmad, S., Bader Ul Ain, H., Tufail, T., Nasir, M., Qamar, A., & Mushtaq, Z. (2022) · Pakistan BioMedical Journal · doi:10.54393/pbmj.v5i3.336 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
Gebrehiwot, T. H., Atsbaha, A. H., & Engdashet Berhe, S. (2026) · Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism · doi:10.1155/jnme/5114961
“Anemia is most prevalent in most parts of Africa, South Asia, and some countries in East Asia and the Pacifc [3].”
- Authors
- McLean, E., Cogswell, M., Egli, I., Wojdyla, D., & de Benoist, B.
- Affiliations
- World Health Organization (CH)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US)
- ETH Zurich (CH)
- National University of Rosario (AR)
- Venue
- Public Health Nutrition
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press (CUP)
- Published
- 2009-04
- Volume
- 12
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 444-454
- ISSN
- 1368-9800 (ISSN-L)
- 1475-2727
- OpenAlex
- W2077902399
- Cited by
- 2,734
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 83 · 2025: 131 · 2024: 203 · 2023: 197 · 2022: 220 · 2021: 281 · 2020: 269 · 2019: 171 · 2018: 178 · 2017: 173 · 2016: 146 · 2015: 179 · 2014: 135 · 2013: 158 · 2012: 88
- FWCI
- 25.56
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Public Health Nutrition (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- reroDoc Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- ETH Zürich Research Collection
- Funders
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (5 U50 DP423754-04)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Iron Metabolism and Disorders
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Nutrition and Dietetics › Child Nutrition and Water Access
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Public Health and Nutrition
- Keywords
- anemia, anemia prevalence, global prevalence estimates, preschool children, pregnant women, non-pregnant women, Human Development Index, regional variation
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Child, Child, Preschool, Female, Health Surveys, Hemoglobins, Humans, Male, Pregnancy, Trace Elements, Vitamins, Global Health, World Health Organization, Nutrition Assessment, Prevalence, Databases, Factual, Anemia, Iron-Deficiency
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
