This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of anemia in Brazilian children, according to different epidemiological scenarios. For this purpose, we carried out a systematic review with meta-analysis of the results of observational studies published in the last ten years. Articles were searched in the SciELO and PubMed databases using the keyword "anemia" combined with children and Brazil. After establishing the exclusion criteria (review article, anemia not of a nutritional etiology, diagnosis not based upon the level of hemoglobin (Hb<11g/dL), sample including children older than seven years, no prevalence data and no identification of study location, sample, age group and diagnostic method), 35 articles were selected, which were categorized according to the origin of their samples: daycare centers/schools n=8, health services n=12, populations subject to socioeconomic inequality n=6 and population-based studies n=9. A meta-analysis was used to estimate the prevalence of anemia weighted by the respective sample size, and odds ratio for a confidence interval of 95%, assuming the prevalence of population-based studies as reference (odds ratio = 1). The following results were obtained, respectively: centers/schools: 52.0%, 1.61 (1.5 to 1.8); health services: 60.2%, 2.26 (2.1 to 2.4); populations subject to injustice: 66.5%, 2.96 (2.6 to 3.4) and population-based studies: 40.1%, with p<0.0001 for all comparisons (χ2). Anemia is still a serious public health problem in the different scenarios analyzed, justifying the fact that it is still considered a priority by managers of public health policies of different government levels in the country.
Anemia; Areas of poverty; Brazil; Children; Health services
