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 .
Iron intake and iron nutritional status of infants fed iron-fortified beikost with meat.
We compared iron intake and iron nutritional status of two groups of healthy term infants who received meat-containing baby foods fortified with ferrous sulphate ( 2 mg Fe/100 g ) . One group received an Fe-fortified formula ( 1.6 mg Fe/100 kcal ) and the other a nonfortified formula . Fe intake of the group fed the nonfortified formula was significantly lower ( p less than 0.0001 ) . These infants received Fe mainly from fortification Fe with beikost ( 75 - 86 % ) and less than 10 % met the recommended intake of 1 mg.kg-1.d-1 ; whereas 80 - 85 % of the infants fed the Fe-fortified formula did . Hb , Hct , FEP , and ferritin were similar in both groups with the exception of lower ferritin values at age 365 d ( p less than 0.05 ) in the group fed the nonfortified formula . No infant had hemoglobin less than 100 g/L. We conclude that regular consumption of commercially prepared Fe-fortified beikost with meat prevents most healthy term infants from Fe deficiency even if Fe intake is substantially below the recommended intake
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 .