This systematic review indicates that iron supplementation increases  Hb levels in children significantly but modestly .
The increase is greater in subjects who are anaemic at the start of the trial and lower in malarial hyperendemic areas and in those consuming iron-fortified food .
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of iron supplementation on  haemoglobin ( Hb ) in children through a systematic review of r and omised controlled trials .
Controlled, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial of iron protein succinylate in the treatment of iron deficiency in children.
A total of 502 children up to the age of 14 years were treated for iron deficiency or overt anemia .  ITF 282 was prescribed to 256 children , and a commercially available ferrous polystyrene sulphonate preparation to 246 , in a r and omized double-blind , double-dummy , ten-center trial . One oral vial of ITF 282 ( 60 mg iron ) was administered once a day to children weighing up to 40 kg ; and twice a day to children with body weight equal or superior to 40 kg . In the reference group , oral vials of polystyrene sulphonate ( 52.5 mg iron ) were administered once a day to children weighing up to 40 kg , and twice a day to children weighing 40 kg or more . Treatments lasted 60 days . The treatments ' efficacy and tolerability were evaluated taking into consideration : special hematology , symptomatology , safety hematology and hematochemistry , urinalysis . At the end of treatment , the trend was detected to the normalization of the main hematologic parameters in both groups ( hemoglobin , hematocrit , ferritin , blood iron , transferrin saturation , MCHC ) . Although in the first month the reference treatment appears to provide somewhat faster results , significantly greater values of blood iron are observed at the end of the observation in the ITF 282 group , indicating a more progressive and steady therapeutic effect . The overall clinical rating was , although not significant , in favor of ITF 282 , with a failure rate of 18.0 vs 24.0 % . The general tolerance , although favorable with both treatments , was significantly more favorable with ITF 282 . With this medication , 13 patients complained of 13 events ( 1 heartburn , 6 constipation , 6 abdominal pain ) vs 48 events reported by 43 patients with the reference medication ( 1 heartburn , 2 epigastric pain , 14 constipation , 14 abdominal pain , 3 skin rash , 14 vomiting ) . These observations confirm that , although the most modern preparations of ferrous ions exhibit a relatively low frequency of adverse events of limited clinical concern , it is nevertheless possible to decrease ( with the use of more " physiologic " preparations in which the iron is reversibly bound to a protein carrier ) the prevalence and , tendentially , duration and intensity of such events without prejudice for the clinical efficacy . Therefore , the good clinical tolerability of ITF 282 effectively removed one of the main obstacles to the correct compliance with iron treatments ( necessarily to be taken long-term ) , as reduced the risks of undesired events in a particularly susceptible population subgroup , such as children
This systematic review indicates that iron supplementation increases  Hb levels in children significantly but modestly .
The increase is greater in subjects who are anaemic at the start of the trial and lower in malarial hyperendemic areas and in those consuming iron-fortified food .
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of iron supplementation on  haemoglobin ( Hb ) in children through a systematic review of r and omised controlled trials .