Supplemental Food may not Prevent Iron-Deficiency Anemia in Infants

Abstract

Objective. The present study evaluates the role of supplementary food and medicinal iron intake in preventing iron-deficiency anemia in children aged between 4 to 6 months. Methods. During a case-control study in "Tabriz Children Hospital", nutritional and medicinal-iron intake of 60 consecutively-selected patients with iron-deficiency anemia were compared with 60 non-anemic children of similar age and sex distributions. Results. The mean hemoglobin concentration, corpuscular volume and serum iron were 9.11 g/dl, 65.41 fL and 19.33 mu g/dl, in case group; and 12.6 g/dl, 75.18 fL and 78.28 mu g/dl, in control group, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between age of case and control groups when complementary-semisolid foods were started (P=0.058), but the mean of received medicinal iron in case group was significantly lower than control group (P<0.001). Conclusion. Supplementary food intake alone is not efficient to prevent iron deficiency anemia since the age of 4-6 months. So, regular administration of medicinal iron is crucial to prevent iron-deficiency anemia in children aged 4-6 months. [Indian J Pediatr 2008; 75 (11) : 1121-1124] Email: dr.nezami@gmail.com