Iron Deficiency Anemia among Children - Coursework Example

Report Name Institution Professor Course Date Part 1: Literature Review Anemia is a major health issue and it contributes greatly to pediatric emergency health conditions. In reality, it threatens the life as well as the survival of young children. Based on the World Health Organization (WHO), anemia is defined as a medical condition in which the hemoglobin value seems to be less than 5g/dl or at the same time the packed cell volume (PCV) amount is less than 15% (Eleje et al. 2005). This paper will focus more on iron deficiency anemia (IDA) as it seems to be a major health issue all over the globe. It would be crucial to note that, certain forms of anemia are hereditary and thus some children may be affected since birth (Grantham-McGregor & Ani 2001). This essay aims at reviewing and discussing the various scholarly literatures that deal with anemia among children. Though the articles will focus on the broad issues of anemia, they all tend to take a different approach and go further into discussion of the causes, symptoms, diet as well as treatment. All these areas will be looked at since they are essential to the health issue in a way. Childhood IDA is closely associated with the impairment of motor development, cognitive performance as well as scholastic achievement. Children who have IDA tend to have a high prevalence of suffering from infectious diseases and this is due to the fact that, a number of immune mechanisms are affected in one way or another (Sachdev, Gera, Nestel 2005). The paper by Moshe et al titled Anemia and iron deficiency in children: association with red meat and poultry consumption featured in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology Nutrition in 2013seems to be an interesting article to start with. The article offers a clear discussion of the foods that contains iron and their varying amounts with an indication that foods such as poultry, meat and fish can be categorized as being the best sources of iron. It further states that, dried fruits, pulses and other green leafy vegetables as also good sources but their amount of iron depends greatly on the iron content in the soil while milk is seen as a poor source of iron (Moshe et al 2013). The next work to be reviewed looked at the main causes and symptoms of IDA among young children. The article is written by Baker & Greer titled Diagnosis and Prevention of Iron Deficiency and Iron-Deficiency Anemia in Infants and Young Children (0–3 Years of Age) featured in the American Academy of Pediatrics journal seems to be an effective source of literature. The article states that, a major cause of IDA is inadequate intake of iron. It further stipulates that, by eating too little iron for period of time, there seems to be an iron shortage in the body. Iron is as seen as essential for rapid development and growth as this it is much needed in young children. The other major cause of IDA is a children’s inability to absorb iron. There are a number of disorders that have a great effect of the way a child’s body absorbs iron from the food eaten with a major one being celiac disease. The article further discusses a number of systems related to the IDA. It states that, though some of the symptoms can be very placid in the onset and people may fail to notice them, some of the basic symptoms of the disease are pale skin, general fatigue, weakness, dizziness, cold hands and feet, brittle nails and headaches just to mention a few of them (Baker & Greer 2010). Having reviewed articles on the food rich in iron, causes and symptoms of IDA, so as to understand the full extent of the issue at hand, I think it would be crucial to have a look at the diagnosis and the various health complications related to IDA. Anemia can be diagnosed through blood tests and thus includes tests such as complete blood cell test and it is the most common. It aims at measuring the amounts of the components of a person blood such as the white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, hematocrit and hemoglobin. There are also other tests that test the iron level in the blood, ferritin levels, the size and color of the RBC as well as the total iron binding capacity. Based on an article by Seligman, Laraia and Kushel titled, Food Insecurity is associated with chronic disease among low-income NHANES participants featured in the journal of nutrition in 2010 is a good article on the health complications related to IDA. A great number of cases of IDA among child are mild and thus they do not lead to complications. The health condition can be corrected easily however if it is left untreated for a long period of time it may lead to a number of health conditions. A major health complication would be irregular and rapid heartbeat. Anemic people have to pump a great amount of blood as compared to people who are not anemic so as to cater for the low amount of oxygen (Seligman, Laraia & Kushel 2010). This at time leads to irregular heartbeats and in most severe cases it can lead to an enlarged heart or to heart failure. Another complication is that IDA is likely to lead to delayed growth and mostly in children and in infants. Children who are anemic may be born prematurely or at times with a low birth weight. At the same time after birth the children and infants who are anemic may experience delays in their development and growth and this is clearly evident when compared to children and infants born at the same time but are not anemic. Anemic children are also more likely to experience numerous infections (Seligman, Laraia & Kushel 2010). Based on the above reviewed literature it is hard to comprehend how the anemia has not been eradicated awhile the causes, symptoms and health complications are well known. The accompanying social marketing plan will come up with a strategy aimed at curbing the prevalence of anemia among the young children in the modern society. References Eleje, G, Muojieje, C, Ulebe, A & Malizu, E 2005, ‘Severe anemia among children admitted in tertiary health care institution: the experience at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (NAUTH), Nnewi, Nigeria’, Medizik Journal, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 32 – 36. Moshe, G, Amitai, Y, Korchia, G, Korchia, L, Tenenbaum, A, Rosenblum, J & Schechter, A 2013, ‘Anemia and iron deficiency in children: association with red meat and poultry consumption’, J Pediatric Gastroenterology Nutrition vol. 57, no. 6, pp. 722-7. Baker, R & Greer, F 2010, ‘American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition. Clinical report -- diagnosis and prevention of iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia in infants and young children (0-3 years of age)’, Pediatrics. Seligman, H, Laraia, B & Kushel, M 2010, ‘Food insecurity is associated with chronic disease among low-incomes NHANES participants’, Journal of Nutrition vol. 140, no. 2, pp. 304-10. Grantham-McGregor S & Ani, C 2001, ‘A review of studies on the effect of iron deficiency on cognitive development in children’, Journal of Nutrition, vol. 131, pp. 649S–668S Sachdev H, Gera, T & Nestel P 2005, ‘Effect of iron supplementation on mental and motor development in children: systematic review of randomized controlled trials’, Public Health Nutrition, vol. 8, pp. 117–132. Part 2: Social Marketing Plan 1.0 Situational Analysis The relation to first part of this reason have reviewed a number of articles in IDA, the review of the various literatures shows that IDA is a common medical condition among infants and young children in Australia and based on estimates from the World Health Organization a total of 8% f children in Australian suffers from anemia with IDA is a major casual factor (WHO 2001). A number of advocacy plans takes place all over the globe with the aim of sensitizing people on their iron intake and enc people do so as to avert the disease as well as the complication that arise as a result of having anemia. This campaign seems to be on the right track by offering people with information on how they can make use of iron supplements, the programs also supports heath promotive behaviors as well as increasing the dietary intake of iron. Parents are likely to make use of available literature and information on IDA and this can benefit them in identifying the causes, symptoms of anemia and this taking accurate and considerate measures aims at curbing the issue and thus in the long run anemia is detected and treated at an early stage thus eradicating the complications that children would have as a result of iron deficiency anemia. 2.0 Segmentation and Targeting Markets are mainly segmented based in various aspects such as age, gender as well as the lifestyle of a certain group of people (Kotler & Armstrong 2012). The target group in this case will be parents of young children since though the children are the ones who are affected they are too young to comprehend the issue. Thus, the parents are the target group in this case and they are supposed to implement what is learned to their children. This group of people is young couples and they are more likely to make use of social media (Trattner & Kappe 2013). 3.0 Positioning and Branding The positioning of this campaign is a sensitive one since the parents being addressed may be already stressed and thus they may be having issues that may e affecting their daily life in some ways. Since the parents seems to be experiencing the social issue we do not plan to make them feel burdened in any way and as a matter of fact we aim at easing their burden in solving the social issues for their own benefits and also for the benefits of others as they may pass on the message to others who may not have it. This will eventually lead to a reduction in number of IDA among young children. So as to be seen as a relatable group of people who are offering sensible and applicable message. The social marketing plan will make use of people celebrities in our commercials sp as to drive the message in an easy and more convenient way. We will make use of celebrities due to the huge benefits of celebrity endorsements with the major one being a great influence on the target group. The likeness consumers tend to have with a number of celebrities tends to influence their actions (Parmar & Patel 2014). Based on these people will have the view that of certain celebrities has certain view then it would e effective to implement the views. Additionally, the endorsements from celebrities will be used since the plan is not greatly aimed at creating a corporate identity or brand since the plan aims as being seen as a unique campaign that is driven and greatly supported by common people and the celebrities that will be used will take the place of the common people. 4.0 Stakeholder analysis 4.1 Key Stakeholders 4.1.1 Celebrities The celebrities that will be involved in the program are the main stakeholders since they will be tasked with the duty of passing the message to the target audience in the moist effective manner to ensure that the main aims of the plan are achieved on a timely basis and in the most effective manner. The use of celebrities in our plan will be of great benefits since by making use of celebrities people tend to have a great recall of the advertisements (Parmar and Patel 2014). Also by using celebrities the social plan will more likely to stand out as opposed to social health issues that makes use of the health care professionals in advancing their message to their target audience. 4.1.2 Health professionals This group of stakeholders is also seen as a major stakeholder in the social issue in that they are usually the first point of contact that parents of children suffering from IDA report the cases when they detect symptoms associated with IDA in their children. In case the plan is successful there will be a great number of parents visiting the health care facilities and this will likely to a reduction in the number of children suffering from IDA. This will be based on the notion that those parents will e well informed on the social issue and thus seek medical attention and diagnosis to help their children in their growth and development. 4.1.3 Children Children in this case are also a major group of the stakeholders since they are the one who are affected by the social issue. This plan is mainly aimed and helping these group of stakeholders and their parents in curbing social issue and thus help the parents and children in living better lives free from diseases. 4.1.4 Parents This is another group of stakeholders and they will be tasked with ensuring that the children receive the medical attention by taking them to the healthcare facilities to get access to better health care services. Thus, the parents will, play major roles in ensuring the success of the plan and they will also be tasked with passing the information to other parents who may be experiencing the same problems in the society. The parents will also follow up to ensure that the conditions of their children improve for the better by taking into consideration the advice, cautions and medications provided by the health care providers. 5.0 Formulation of offer 5.1 Product The produced being marketed here is behavior and mostly in consuming foods that are rich in iron. The plan aims at letting parents know that IDA is medical issues that can be solved of they take their children visit the health facilities. This goes along with the reassurance of a better health. A number of videos will be posted on the various social media sites. If the parents come out and take their children to the health facilities they will help in addressing the issue and thus they are not likely to be affected by the complications that results from untreated IDA. 5.2 Price The price that the parents will pay by coning forward and accepting that their children are ailing will at first be embarrassing since they may feel that in a way they are responsible for their children condition due to poor nutrition but they will reap the benefits in the long run. 5.3 Promotion A viral strategy will be used for this social marketing plan. Despite the strategy being a risky one since there are no formal structures in place to support the strategy, it will be supported by the power that the celebrities have and like other campaigns backed up by celebrities we believe that this plan will be a major success. 5.4 Place The product will be presented to the target audience through the use of social media pages since the target group seems to e more conversant with such sites and make use of them more regularly and thus they will have constant reminder of the issue. 5.5 People and partnerships Based on the great importance that is placed on partnership, for this plan to be effective partnerships will be enhanced with celebrities to support the campaign. We also seek to partnership with healthcare practitioners so as to show the parents that even the facilities they will be visiting are up to the tasks of helping the young children. News media is another group that we plan to partner with. This will play a major role in that it will help in passing the message to a great number of people even to those who may be located in the most remote areas. 6.0 Implementation This social marketing plan will be supported greatly by the use of various social media platforms and this will include but not limited to facebook, YouTube, twitter blogs, and Insta-gram. The plan will be greatly supported by a number of celebrities that we will have partnered with in making the plan a success. The celebrities will be require to record a video with a message aimed at passing a message to the parents that issue is not a permanent issue and if the parents seeks medical attention the problem can be solved. People will also be encouraged to pass the message along by liking and sharing it with others to show their support for the initiative (Trattner & Kappe 2013). 7.0 Monitoring and Evaluation The plan will be monitored by keeping a close check on statistics of parents who are taking their children to the health care facilities. Additionally, statistics will be checked to ensure that there is consistency in obtaining medical help until the health issue is solved and the children can live a healthy and a more fulfilling life free from the social issue. References Kotler, P & Armstrong, G 2012, Principles of Marketing, Pearson Education Limited, New Jersey. Parmar, B & Patel, R 2014, ‘A study on consumer perception for celebrity & non celebrity endorsement in television commercials for fast moving consumer goods’, Global Business and Economics Research Journal, vol. 3. No. 2, pp. 1-11. Trattner, C & Kappe, F 2013, ‘Social Stream Marketing on Facebook: A Case Study’, International Journal of Social and Humanistic Computing, vol. 2, no. 1/2. World Health Organization (WHO) 2001, United Nations Children’s Fund. United Nations University, Iron deficiency anemia: assessment, prevention, and control. A guide for program managers, Geneva, viewed 11 May 2016, http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/en/ida_assessment_prevention_control.pdf Read More