Significant heterogeneity was evident , and its predictors included greater weight-for-age in supplemented children in malaria hyperendemic regions and greater weight-for-height for children above 5 years of age , but a negative effect on linear growth in developed countries and with supplementation for 6 months or longer .
This review did not document a positive effect of iron supplementation on the physical growth of children .
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of iron supplementation on  physical growth in children through a systematic review of r and omised controlled trials ( RCTs ) .
Iron supplementation of the diet in full-term infants: a controlled study.
To determine the clinical and laboratory effects of medicinal iron supplementation,602  healthy full-term infants were studied . Three hundred twenty-nine infants were given 30 mg . of elemental iron per day , and 273 were given a placebo . Fifty-five per cent of the original group completed the supplement program ( 11 months ) , and 46.5 per cent completed the total 18 months of the study period . Forty-one per cent were followed for a total of two years ; these infants were evaluated in detail . No objective benefit from the iron medication was found , but a transient decrease in the serum iron saturation was noted in the placebo group . Side effects were minimal . Subjectively the mothers of the iron-supplemented group had less complaints about their children 's sleep pattern or daytime irritability , and reported fewer illnesses . However , the more objective evidence of illnesses recorded in the infants ' charts did not support this difference . It is our belief that normal healthy infants who readily accept solid food will not be subject to iron deficiency anemia and do not benefit from iron supplementation
Significant heterogeneity was evident , and its predictors included greater weight-for-age in supplemented children in malaria hyperendemic regions and greater weight-for-height for children above 5 years of age , but a negative effect on linear growth in developed countries and with supplementation for 6 months or longer .
This review did not document a positive effect of iron supplementation on the physical growth of children .
OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of iron supplementation on  physical growth in children through a systematic review of r and omised controlled trials ( RCTs ) .