REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS There is no convincing evidence that iron treatment of young children with IDA has an effect on psychomotor development discernable within 5 - 11 days .
The effect of longer term treatment remains unclear but the data would be compatible with clinical ly significant benefit .
BACKGROUND Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia ( IDA ) are common in young children .
It has been suggested that the lack of iron may have important effects on children 's psychomotor development and cognitive function .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of iron therapy on psychomotor development and cognitive function in iron deficient children less than 3 years of age .
Infancy: mental and motor development.
In a prospect i ve cohort study of 196 infants from birth to age 15 mo , the relationship of iron status to psychomotor development , the effect of a short-term trial of oral iron or placebo , and the effect of longer-term oral iron therapy was assessed . Development was assessed with the Bayley Scale of Infant Development in anemic , nonanemic , iron-deficient , and control children . Anemic infants had significantly lower indices than did control or nonanemic , iron-deficient infants . Control infants and nonanemic , iron-deficient infants performed comparably . No difference between the effect of oral administration of iron or placebo was noted after 10 d or 3 mo of iron therapy . A hemoglobin concentration of less than 105 g/L and anemia duration greater than 3 mo were correlated with significantly lower motor and mental scores , suggesting that when iron deficiency progresses to anemia , adverse influences in the performance of developmental tests appear and persist , despite iron therapy
REVIEW ER 'S CONCLUSIONS There is no convincing evidence that iron treatment of young children with IDA has an effect on psychomotor development discernable within 5 - 11 days .
The effect of longer term treatment remains unclear but the data would be compatible with clinical ly significant benefit .
BACKGROUND Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia ( IDA ) are common in young children .
It has been suggested that the lack of iron may have important effects on children 's psychomotor development and cognitive function .
OBJECTIVES To determine the effects of iron therapy on psychomotor development and cognitive function in iron deficient children less than 3 years of age .