Iron deficiency on the rise: WHO warns of 15% increase in anaemia among African youth
Anaemia is a growing challenge facing South African teens, affecting their focus and future.
Image: Amornthep Srina/pexels
Anaemia is quietly but significantly affecting the lives of millions of young people worldwide, and South Africa is no exception.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nearly one-quarter of the global population suffers from anaemia, with adolescent girls being the most vulnerable.
In sub-Saharan Africa, anaemia rates among teenagers have surged by 15% over the past decade, with about 40% of adolescent girls affected.
This isn't just a number, it's a growing health crisis with profound consequences for young people's energy, focus, and future. South African teens, already navigating the challenges of rapid growth, academic pressure, and physical activity, are particularly at risk.
Anaemia is preventable and treatable if we can recognise the signs and take action. What's behind the rise in teen anaemia?
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Advertisement
Next
Stay
Close ✕
Limited access to iron-rich foods like red meat, leafy greens, and fortified cereals is a major contributor.
Image: Maarten van den Heuve/pexels
For many South African teens, the root causes of anaemia lie in a combination of factors, including:
Poor nutrition
Limited access to iron-rich foods like red meat, leafy greens, and fortified cereals is a major contributor. For some, it's due to poverty; for others, it's a lack of awareness about dietary needs.
Heavy menstruation
Many teenage girls lose significant amounts of iron during their periods, which can lead to chronic deficiency if not addressed.
Rapid growth
Adolescents experience a surge in physical development, increasing their body's demand for iron. Stress and physical activity
Whether it's school exams or sports, the demands placed on teenagers' bodies often exceed their available iron stores. When the body doesn't have enough iron to produce haemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen in the blood, everything from brain function to physical stamina suffers.
How anaemia impacts everyday life
For South African teens, anaemia is more than just a health issue, it's a barrier to living a full and active life.
When the body doesn't have enough iron to produce haemoglobin the protein that carries oxygen in the blood everything from brain function to physical stamina suffers.
Image: Pavel Danilyuk /pexels
How anaemia impacts everyday life
For South African teens, anaemia is more than just a health issue, it's a barrier to living a full and active life.
Fatigue: Imagine trying to focus in class or give your best on the sports field when you're constantly exhausted.
Poor concentration: Anaemia affects cognitive function, making it harder to retain information or stay alert during lessons.
Emotional struggles: Low iron levels can contribute to anxiety, depression, and mood swings.
Physical symptoms: From headaches and pale skin to brittle nails and hair loss, anaemia's effects are visible and often distressing. Left untreated, severe cases of iron deficiency anaemia can lead to life-threatening complications, including heart failure and damage to vital organs.
A local solution: the 'Iron It Out' campaign
In response to this growing crisis, two South African healthcare professionals, Sister Karin Davidson of the Cape Town Infusion Centre and Sister Pippa Hime of The Infusion Room, have launched a national awareness campaign called Iron It Out.
This grassroots initiative is designed to educate teens, parents, and caregivers about the symptoms, causes, and treatment of anaemia. 'Iron deficiency anaemia is a silent epidemic robbing teens of their energy, focus, and potential,' says Davidson.
'What makes it worse is that it's entirely preventable and treatable with proper awareness and intervention.'
Recognising the symptoms
One of the key messages of the Iron It Out campaign is that fatigue and exhaustion are not normal.
Teens, parents, and teachers need to be on the lookout for these common but often overlooked symptoms of anaemia: Persistent tiredness or mental fog.
Mouth ulcers, hair loss, or brittle nails.
Headaches, pale skin, and shortness of breath.
Restless legs, cravings for non-food items (pica), and cold intolerance.
'Low iron stores can affect every part of a teen's life, from their physical health to their mental well-being,' explains Sister Hime.
'We want young people to understand that these symptoms are not just 'part of being a teenager' they're warning signs that your body needs help.'
What 'Iron It Out' offers
The campaign is bringing much-needed awareness and resources to South African teens. Key elements of the initiative include:
1. School workshops: Interactive sessions led by healthcare professionals to educate teens about anaemia and how to prevent it.
2. Health screenings: In partnership with clinics and mobile health units, the campaign offers easy access to iron testing.
3. Symptom tracker tools: A practical tracker helps teens identify potential warning signs early.
4. Community outreach: By working with parents, teachers, and caregivers, the campaign ensures the message reaches every corner of South Africa. Anaemia isn't just a health issue, it's a quality-of-life issue.
For South African teens, correcting iron deficiency could mean better grades, improved athletic performance, and an overall happier, healthier life.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The South African
7 hours ago
- The South African
12-hour power outage to impact this part of Cape Town on Thursday
The City of Cape Town electricity and generation teams will implement a 12-hour power outage to maintain essential electricity infrastructure in Lwandle, Strand. The maintenance work will be carried out from 6:00 to 18:00 on Thursday, 26 June, if all goes to plan, resulting in electricity supply interruptions. The City of Cape Town said it is important to note that interruptions to the electricity supply will only impact the highlighted area on the maps and only on the relevant date. To view the area outage map, you can visit: Similarly, Eskom will also implement a seven-hour power outage to maintain essential electricity infrastructure in Atlantis on Thursday, 26 June from 8:30 to 16:00. To view the area outage map, you can visit: Moreover, the City of Cape Town has warned that electricity supply could be restored at any time and urged customers to treat all electrical installations as live for the full duration of the planned maintenance work. 'Residents are encouraged to switch off appliances as a precaution and to avoid damage caused by power surges when the power comes back on. 'The City of Cape Town apologises for any inconvenience caused and thanks residents for their cooperation and understanding,' the metro municipality said. Let us know by leaving a comment below, or send a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1. Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X, and Bluesky for the latest news.
The Citizen
8 hours ago
- The Citizen
Record breaking Clifton apartment: Here is how much it sold for — report
Cape Town continues to be a haven for high-end property as international investors seek beauty and stability. The lifestyles of the rich and the famous have no better setting than the opulent streets of Clifton. To rubber stamp the suburb's position as the premier location for wealthy property owners, a record-breaking purchase was been sealed. Cape Town's property market continues to thrive, with industry experts attributing the city's appeal to its overall 'value proposition'. Luxury Clifton home A five-bedroom apartment along Clifton's 1st Beach has reportedly just been purchased for a whopping R145 million. The property is furnished with the highest quality finishings and offers the mesmeric views of the ocean that are synonymous with the Atlantic Seaboard. Lance Cohen of Lance Real Estate secured the deal, revealing that the buyer was a former South African living in Monaco. Cohen told the Sunday Times that the sale represented the 'record for the highest price paid for an apartment sold in South Africa,' claiming the previous record was R120 million. The average asking price of homes currently on the market in Clifton range between R30 million and R60 million, making this sale an eye-catching purchase. Other properties currently being marketed by Cohen include a six-bedroom house in Fresnaye for R75 million and R95 million four-bedroom house also located in Fresnaye. Cohen could break his Clifton record again if a five-bedroom house currently for sale sells for its asking price of R160 million. Cape Town very attractive While the sale may represent the highest paid for an apartment, South Africa's most expensive home was reportedly sold for roughly R700 million in 2023. Known as Casablanca, an eight bedroom and 13-bathroom Camps Bay colossus is believed to have fetched a cool US$35 million. The Residential Property Price Index released by Stats SA earlier in June shows Cape Town over 10 index points higher than Johannesburg. For first time property sales and resold properties, Cape Town is ahead of Johannesburg by almost 15 and 13 index points, respectively. Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry CEO John Lawson credits this to the Mother City's overall functionality. 'The gaping disparity mirrors a similar trend in municipal infrastructure development and service delivery, with property investors favouring Cape Town's value proposition,' stated Lawson. NOW READ: 8 tips for investing in South African commercial property
IOL News
10 hours ago
- IOL News
The kindness of Harriet Bolton and clothing factory workers
Mrs Harriet Bolton worked tirelessly for the rights of workers in ensuring that they were appropriately paid and were able to receive worker benefits that developed into tertiary education bursaries. Image: Supplied MY WIFE'S matric results secured her a welcome bursary from the Garment Worker's Industrial Union (GWIU) that paid for her studies at the University of Durban-Westville. We are eternally grateful for that bursary that would completely alter the trajectory of my wife's future. In this journey of our life, a set of fortunate events, together with the hard work of clothing factory workers conspired to give us a better life that is a priceless gift to our children and their future. In that time of my mother-in-law working at the textile factory many women were able break that cycle of poverty that trapped our indentured ancestry for more than 100 years. In 100 years from 1860 to 1960, life's journey for the majority of South African Indians was a wretched existence. In a journal article, The 'Culture of Poverty' and the South African poor by Geoffrey H Waters in 1978, it was estimated that 64% of Indians living in South Africa, lived below the poverty datum line. Hopes to break that endless cycle of poverty was often dashed, as conditions to accelerate advancement was not conducive. Limited employment opportunities, apartheid era job reservation, successive world wars, colonial and apartheid era depredations together with depressed economies, all contrived to keep advancement at bay. The apartheid state expropriated prime urban land that ripped the heart away from people who lived in the Magazine & Railway Barracks, Mayville, Cato Manor, Block AK Greyville, etc. These people were forcibly removed to places like Chatsworth and Phoenix, 20 to 30 kilometres from their places of work. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ To account for the high cost of living, ladies in the new townships were now forced to work to make life bearable. The number of Indian women working in factories, especially in the garment industry, grew dramatically during the 1960s. While in 1951 only 1518 Indian women were employed in industry, by 1970 this grew to 13 530. Their wages were vital to survival in the new townships, where the demands of rent, electricity and the vast amount of modern consumer goods put pressure on the family's income. Crowds of women waited at bus stops leaving early in the morning and arriving late in the evening, still coming home to cook a family meal. They worked tirelessly in providing life's little luxuries like that Friday treat of queen cake that we couldn't wait to wolf down. The bursary that my wife secured was mainly due to the tenacity of a leading light for rights of textile factory workers found in the name of Harriet Bolton. She was married to Jimmy 'JC' Bolton who formed the Garment Worker's Industrial Union in 1934. By the time Mrs Bolton became General Secretary for the GWIU, Indian women started to enter the industry in significant numbers from 1960, while the number of Indian men employed in clothing factories, until then in the majority, started to decline. In 1965, membership of the GWIU was made up of 6 648 male workers and 6 715 female workers. By 1967 this had grown to 7582 female workers, while the number of males dropped to 6 420. Indian workers made up just over 79% of workers in the industry. Over the next three years, Harriet and the executive of GWIU attempted to install more democracy into union structures and improve contact with workers. The GWIU under the stewardship of Mrs Bolton worked tirelessly for the rights of workers in ensuring that they were appropriately paid and were able to receive worker benefits that developed into tertiary education bursaries that my wife became a recipient of. In the year of the Durban Strikes of 1973, Harriet Bolton was persecuted for her role on mobilising the masses in the fight for worker rights. Many others too have played a significant role in fighting for the rights of textile factory workers. Garment workers union activists Margaret Rajbally, Pregs Govender, Emma Mashinini and many others have contributed immensely to the plight of workers in an industry whose voices were not often heard. The lowering of trade barriers at the advent of democracy marked the start of the steep decline, if not the death, of industries such as the clothing, textile and footwear sectors that our parents had so tirelessly worked in. The chilly wind of globalization showed its fierce teeth that now see us buying clothing almost exclusively from foreign countries.
