Disappearance of iron-deficiency anemia in a high-risk infant population given supplemental iron.

Abstract

Iron deficiency is the most common single nutrient deficiency in the world. Studies in the United States have shown that the prevalence of overt iron-deficiency anemia is 5 to 15 per cent in American infants and children 9 to 36 months old.1 2 3 Although iron-deficiency anemia is most prevalent among the poor, owing to feeding practices and dietary inadequacy of foods rich in iron, which tend to be expensive, it cuts across socioeconomic barriers. It is particularly frequent during the second year of life because of exhaustion of transplacental iron reserves, rapid growth, and consumption of large amounts of iron-poor milk. . . .