Preliminary findings on iron supplementation and learning achievement of rural Indonesian children

Abstract

The effects of oral iron supplementation on blood iron levels and learning achievement in 130 rural Indonesian school children were assessed in this double-blind study. The children were classified into anemic and nonanemic groups according to their initial hemoglobin and transferrin saturation levels and were randomly assigned to either iron or placebo treatment for 3 mo. Hematological, anthropometric, and learning-achievement data were collected before (T1) and after (T2) the treatment period and 3 mo later. The means and standard deviations suggest that supplementation with 10 mg ferrous sulfate per kilogram body weight per day for 3 mo resulted in an apparent improvement in anemic subjects' hematological status and learning-achievement scores. No tests of statistical comparisons are reported.

Effects of daily iron supplementation in primary-school–aged children: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…Kashyap et al 34 Soemantri et al 56 Ayoya et al 17 Sungthong et al 57 Pollitt et al 44 Mean Overall school grades Gopaldas et al [29][30][31] Pollitt et al 44 Seshadri et al 28 Kashyap et al 34 Seshadri et al 17 Gopaldas et al [29][30][31] Pollitt et al 44 Seshadri et al 28,55 (study 2)…”

Iron Deficiency and Schooling Attainment in Peru

“…Previous research has shown the detrimental effect of iron deficiency on adult labor force productivity [Thomas et al, 2006] 6 , but to date there is no rigorous evidence that IDA is an important contributing factor 4 See, for instance: Seshadri et al [1982]; ; ; Groner et al [1986]; Kashyap and Gopaldas [1987]; Seshadri and Gopaldas [1989]; Soemantri [1989]; Bruner et al [1996]. One large study in Thailand could not replicate the beneficial effects of iron supplementation found in other settings (Pollitt et al, 1989;Sungthong et al, 2004).…”

Cognitive function, iron status, and hemoglobin concentration in obese dieting women

“…In Indonesia (Soemantri et al, 1985;Soemantri, 1989), Thailand (Pollitt et al, 1989), and India (Seshadri & Gopaldas, 1989) indications are that iron de®ciency anemia in adolescence is associated with poor performance on academic tests and that iron supplementation signi®cantly improves test results. It has also been found that adolescents treated with iron supplements show improvement in their ability to concentrate (Balin et al, 1992).…”