Abstract
Over 750 million children have iron-deficiency anemia. A simple powdered sachet may be the key to addressing this global problem.
Highlights
Recent World Health Organization (WHO)/United Nations Children’s Fund estimates suggest that the number of children with iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) is greater than 750 million [1]
We describe our efforts, stage by stage, towards achieving the goal of controlling IDA
The geometric mean iron absorption from two doses of iron (30 mg and 45 mg of elemental iron per sachet) was 8.3% in infants with anaemia and 4.5% in infants without anaemia [8]. Comparing these absorption values to the new American/Canadian Dietary Reference Intake standards for infants, we concluded that during infancy (i) iron absorption of Sprinkles from a maizebased porridge met and surpassed needs for absorbed iron, and (ii) iron absorption is up-regulated in infants with IDA [9,10,11]
Summary
The problem of IDA in children largely disappeared in North America when foods fortified with iron and other micronutrients became available for children. In this group, the prevalence of IDA has fallen from 21% in 1974 to 13% in 1994 [2]. Pockets of infants and children remain at risk, generally, the eradication of iron deficiency in developed countries is recognized as a successful public health accomplishment. This solution has not worked in developing countries where commercially purchased fortified foods are not available or are not used. We describe our efforts, stage by stage, towards achieving the goal of controlling IDA
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