Poor iron status affects 50% of Indian women and compromises work productivity, cognitive performance, and reproduction. Among the many strategies to reduce iron deficiency is the commercial fortification of iodized table salt with iron to produce a double-fortified salt (DFS). The objective of this study was to test the efficacy of DFS in reducing iron deficiency in rural women of reproductive age from northern West Bengal, India. The participants were 212 women between 18 and 55 y of age who worked as full-time tea pickers on a large tea estate. Participants in the randomized, controlled, double-blind study were assigned to use either DFS or a control iodized salt for 7.5 to 9 mo. The DFS was fortified with 3.3-mg ferrous fumarate (1.1-mg elemental iron) per kg of iodized salt, whereas the control salt contained only iodine (47 mg/kg potassium iodate), and both salt varieties were distributed gratis to the families of participants at 0.5 kg/mo for each 2 household members. At baseline, 53% of participants were anemic (hemoglobin <120 g/L), 25% were iron deficient (serum ferritin <12 μg/L), and 23% were iron-deficient anemic. Also, 22% had a transferrin receptor concentration >8.6 mg/L and 22% had negative (<0.0 mg/kg) body iron stores. After 9 mo the participants receiving DFS showed significant improvements compared with controls in hemoglobin (+2.4 g/L), ferritin (+0.13 log10
μg/L), soluble transferrin receptor (−0.59 mg/L), and body iron (+1.43 mg/kg), with change in status analyzed by general linear models controlling for baseline values. This study demonstrated that DFS is an efficacious approach to improving iron status and should be further evaluated for effectiveness in the general population. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01032005.
Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia have been shown to have negative effects on aspects of perception, attention, and memory. The purpose of this investigation was to assess the extent to which increases in dietary iron consumption are related to improvements in behavioral measures of perceptual, attentional, and mnemonic function. Women were selected from a randomized, double-blind, controlled food-fortification trial involving ad libitum consumption of either a double-fortified salt (DFS) containing 47 mg potassium iodate/kg and 3.3 mg microencapsulated ferrous fumarate/g (1.1 mg elemental Fe/g) or a control iodized salt. Participants' blood iron status (primary outcomes) and cognitive functioning (secondary outcomes) were assessed at baseline and after 10 mo at endline. The study was performed on a tea plantation in the Darjeeling district of India. Participants ( = 126; 66% iron deficient and 49% anemic at baseline) were otherwise healthy women of reproductive age, 18-55 y. Significant improvements were documented for iron status and for perceptual, attentional, and mnemonic function in the DFS group (percentage of variance accounted for: 16.5%) compared with the control group. In addition, the amount of change in perceptual and cognitive performance was significantly ( < 0.05) related to the amount of change in blood iron markers (mean percentage of variance accounted for: 16.0%) and baseline concentrations of blood iron markers (mean percentage of variance accounted for: 25.0%). Overall, there was evidence that the strongest effects of change in iron status were obtained for perceptual and low-level attentional function. DFS produced measurable and significant improvements in the perceptual, attentional, and mnemonic performance of Indian female tea pickers of reproductive age. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01032005.
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