Anemia Afflicts Half of All Brazilian Children

Brazil’s Pastoral Commission for Children estimates that around 50% of poor Brazilian children suffer from anemia. Zilda Arns, a physician who is the coordinator of the commission, regards the problem as much more serious than child malnutrition, which is around 4%. Brazil has nearly 20 million children under the age of six, and 48.6% are considered poor.

"According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this 4% indicates that we have already been able to control malnutrition. What the pastoral does each year is to keep 150,000 children from being malnourished. Anemia, however, is a much more complicated problem that we have still not been able to control," she said. The Pastoral Commission takes care of 1.88 million children.

Arns also informed that she is negotiating with the Ministry of Health for iron sulfate to be provided at government health posts for more serious anemia cases.

"When the social conditions are unfavorable, children can take a lot of time to recover. Anemia in very small children can weaken their intellectual capacity and their resistance to disease, and this worries us a lot," she said.

According to Arns, one of the causes of the large number of anemic children is the change in the eating habits of the Brazilian population.

"What we are trying to do is to get anemic children to eat more food like chicken gizzards and livers and egg yolks, which are rich in iron and very good in preventing disease."

Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Reality Check: Life in Brazil Through the Eyes of a Foreigner – An Excerpt

‘Reality Check: Life in Brazil through the eyes of a foreigner’ was published last ...

Rapidinhas

Fashion Crème de la crème Isabela Rosselini‘s 13-year reign as Lancôme’s face has ended. ...

Heaven on Credit: Church in Brazil Offers Credit Card and Tithe by Automated Bank Draft

Brazilian churchgoers have a new way to pay their tithe: Automated Bank Draft. Missionary ...

European Union Lets Brazil Down

“Below expectations.” That was the initial reaction from Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Relations (Itamaraty), ...

LETTERS

Rich and powerful to the point of arrogance, when it cannot beat the competition, ...

Brazil and Argentina Bury the Hatchet After WTO Treaty’s Clash

Brazil and Argentina ratified their "strategic alliance" on Monday during a business seminar opened ...

Brazil’s Cosmetic King O Boticí¡rio Wants Bigger Piece of Foreign Pie

The Brazilian factory of perfumes and cosmetics O Boticário, located in São José dos ...

American Pilots Can’t Be Made Scapegoats of Brazilian Tragedy, Says Lawyer

In his first appearance as the lawyer for the two American pilots involved in ...

From Brazil Israeli Leader Charges Iran with Buying Influence Around World

In an interview from Brazil with the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, the president of ...

Brazilian in UN’s Three-Men Commission to Probe Israeli Excesses in Lebanon

A Brazilian ambassador is one of the three members of a commission appointed by ...