title: Risk factors for iron deficiency in a hospitalized urban New Zealand population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine which dietary practices and sociodemographic factors are associated with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and iron deficiency (ID) in hospitalized New Zealand children.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective study of children 8-23 months of age hospitalized with an acute illness from 1997 to 1999. Iron deficiency was defined as abnormal values for two out of three of serum ferritin (< 10 micro g/L), serum iron saturation (< 10%) and red cell distribution width (> 14.5%). Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) was defined as ID + serum haemoglobin concentration <110 g/L. Those with IDA or ID were compared separately with those who were not iron deficient.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Three hundred and ninety-one children were enrolled. Two hundred and twenty had IDA, 73 had ID and 98 were not iron deficient. In a multivariate analysis, those children who had a diagnosis of pneumonia (odds ratio 4.43, 95% CI 1.49, 13.13) were Pacific (odds ratio 6.31, 95% CI 2.14, 18.63), were currently drinking breast milk (odds ratio 10.22, 95% CI 2.95, 35.42), had a mother who restricted her meat intake during pregnancy (odds ratio 4.40, 95% CI 1.53, 12.64) or lived in a household with more than three children (odds ratio 7.42, 95% CI 1.88, 29.34) were at increased risk of IDA. Those children who were Pacific (odds ratio 5.44, 95% CI 1.37, 21.65) or who drank tea (odds ratio 7.88, 95% CI 1.10, 56.33) were at increased risk of ID. Those with a diagnosis of gastroenteritis (odds ratio 0.16, 95% CI 0.03, 0.75) were at decreased risk of ID.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both dietary and non-dietary factors are associated with an increased risk of IDA and ID in New Zealand children. In this hospitalized sample, more non-dietary than dietary factors were associated with poor iron status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, New Zealand. cc.grant@auckland.ac.nz
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.forename: C R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Wall
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Taua
mesh_terms: D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D019266:Iron, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D009752:Nutritional Status; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D019266:Iron, Dietary