Hemoglobin criteria with respect to obesity.

To determine whether Hb criteria should be adjusted for obesity, the ranges and medians of Hb concentrations for 354 obese and 1894 nonobese, white children, aged 6 to 14 yr from HANES I were compared. Although median Hb concentrations average 0.125 g/dl higher in obese individuals with or without exclusion of iron-deficient individuals this slight difference is not significant (t tests p less than 0.1). It is suggested that while age, sex, altitude, and potentially, race are valid considerations when screening for anemia, a further adjustment for obesity appears unwarranted and would complicate efforts in optimizing screening for anemia.