Policy statement on iron deficiency in pre‐school‐aged children

Abstract

Iron deficiency is prevalent and an important determinant of child health. Precise and accurate diagnosis remains challenging. Iron supplementation is required for premature and low-birthweight infants. Oral iron salts remain the recommended treatment of choice in most instances.

Iron deficiency in children with global developmental delay and autism spectrum disorder

“…Iron deficiency occurs when there is insufficient iron to maintain normal cellular functions and remains a leading nutritional health concern among infants and young children. It affects 47% of children worldwide: 50% of children in developing countries and 6–12% of children in developed countries . The current parameters used for the diagnosis of iron deficiency include serum ferritin <10 μg/L, mean corpuscular volume <73–75 fL and iron (transferrin) saturation <10–12%, as shown in Table .…”

“…It affects 47% of children worldwide: 50% of children in developing countries and 6–12% of children in developed countries . The current parameters used for the diagnosis of iron deficiency include serum ferritin <10 μg/L, mean corpuscular volume <73–75 fL and iron (transferrin) saturation <10–12%, as shown in Table . A second method of diagnosis is the use of a therapeutic trial of oral iron therapy; iron deficiency is diagnosed if a rise in haemoglobin levels of greater than 10 g/L results from an iron dose of 3 mg/kg/day for 1 month …”

Detection of human erythrocytes influenced by iron deficiency anemia and thalassemia using atomic force microscopy

“…Iron deficiency progresses from replete iron stores to a depletion of iron stored in the body. This results in the depletion of the functional iron compartment, which leads to iron deficient anemia (Grant et al, 2007). Thalassemias are a complex group of hereditary blood diseases that involve impaired production of ␣-or ␤-chains of hemoglobin (Winichagoon et al, 1993).…”

Age, beta thalassaemia trait, and iron-deficient anaemia significantly affect reticulocyte indices in pre-school children

“…Several combinations of the haematological and biochemical factors of iron metabolism have been used for the definition of iron deficiency, but no widely acceptable formula has been established so far [4,12]. Erythrocyte parameters such as mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration in combination with reticulocyte counts, serum iron levels, saturation index, and ferritin levels are, currently, considered the gold standard [13,14].…”