Prevalence of anemia higher among females than males and in non-Hispanic Black females and males
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 4, 2024 (HealthDay News) — During August 2021 to August 2023, the overall prevalence of anemia was 9.3 percent among people aged 2 years and older, according to a December data brief published by the National Center for Health Statistics.
Anne M. Williams, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues used data from the August 2021 to August 2023 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to estimate the prevalence of anemia in those aged 2 years and older by selected characteristics.
The researchers found that the overall prevalence of anemia was 9.3 percent among people aged 2 years and older during August 2021 to August 2023. Prevalence was higher in females than in males (13.0 versus 5.5 percent). The prevalence of anemia was lowest among children aged 2 to 11 years and highest in adults aged 60 years and older (4.7 and 12.5 percent, respectively). Compared with all other race and Hispanic-origin groups, anemia prevalence was highest in Black non-Hispanic females and Black non-Hispanic males (31.4 and 10.8 percent, respectively). Overall and in males and females aged 2 years and older, the prevalence of anemia decreased with increasing family income.
“Males had a lower prevalence of anemia than females in all race and Hispanic-origin groups; this was also true in all income groups, but not in all age groups,” the authors write.
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