Limited evidence suggested that iron supplementation produced a small improvement in cognitive development but had no effect on physical growth .
CONCLUSIONS : In 2 to 5 year olds , daily iron supplementation increases hemoglobin and ferritin .
There is a concerning lack of data on the effect of iron supplementation on clinical ly important outcomes including anemia , ID anemia , ID , and cognitive development .
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES : Iron deficiency ( ID ) is the most common cause of anemia worldwide .
The prevalence is highest among preschool-aged children .
Iron is widely administered to children with or at risk for ID , but evidence of benefit among 2- to 5-year-old children has not been evaluated by systematic review .
We summarize the evidence for the benefit and safety of daily iron supplementation with regard to hematologic , growth , and cognitive parameters in 2 to 5 year olds .
The effects on malaria of treatment of iron-deficiency anaemia with oral iron in Gambian children.
In order to determine whether giving iron to iron-deficient children increases their susceptibility to malaria , 213 Gambian children aged between 6 months and 5 years with iron-deficiency anaemia were r and omized to receive either oral iron or placebo during the rainy season when malaria transmission is maximal . Haematological and iron measurements improved significantly in the group given iron . Regular morbidity surveys showed that fever associated with parasitaemia occurred more frequently in the iron-treated group than in the placebo group . This difference was not significant for all parasitaemias grouped together , but became significant and progressively larger for parasitaemias of ten or more positive fields per 100 high power fields ( P less than 0.025 ) , and for parasitaemias of 50 or more positive fields per 100 high power fields ( P less than 0.01 ) . Three children in the iron-treated group but none in the placebo group had more than one episode of fever and parasitaemia . Splenomegaly rates rose appreciably during the study in both groups , but in children at age 2 years the splenomegaly rate at the end of the study was significantly greater in the iron-treated group . We concluded that there is a significantly increased risk of fever associated with severe malarial parasitaemia for children with iron-deficiency anaemia given iron during the season of maximal malaria transmission in this part of The Gambia
Limited evidence suggested that iron supplementation produced a small improvement in cognitive development but had no effect on physical growth .
CONCLUSIONS : In 2 to 5 year olds , daily iron supplementation increases hemoglobin and ferritin .
There is a concerning lack of data on the effect of iron supplementation on clinical ly important outcomes including anemia , ID anemia , ID , and cognitive development .
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES : Iron deficiency ( ID ) is the most common cause of anemia worldwide .
The prevalence is highest among preschool-aged children .
Iron is widely administered to children with or at risk for ID , but evidence of benefit among 2- to 5-year-old children has not been evaluated by systematic review .
We summarize the evidence for the benefit and safety of daily iron supplementation with regard to hematologic , growth , and cognitive parameters in 2 to 5 year olds .