Iron status in a group of Norwegian children aged 6-24 months.
An adequate iron status is of vital importance for health and development in infancy and early childhood. Iron status was evaluated in a group of full-term Norwegian children followed longitudinally, at the ages of 6 mo (n = 278), 12 mo (n = 249) and 24 mo (n = 231) by measuring haemoglobin (Hb), mean cell volume (MCV) and serum ferritin. At 6, 12 and 24 mo of age, 3, 10 and 12%, respectively, had iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) defined as Hb <110 g/l in combination with ferritin <15 microg/l. With more restrictive criteria for defining IDA (Hb <110 g/l or <105 g/l in combination with ferritin <12 microg/l), the prevalence decreased to 1-2% at 6 mo and 2-5% at 12 and 24 mo of age. If children with a history of fever in the previous month were excluded, the proportion of children with depleted iron stores (ferritin <10 microg/l) increased from 2 to 3% at 6 mo, from 5 to 7% at 12 mo and from 9 to 13% at 24 mo.


CONCLUSIONS
Mild iron deficiency anaemia exists among otherwise healthy Norwegian infants and toddlers. The prevention and early treatment of iron deficiency should be a priority for the child health services.
Hay
G
G
Institute for Nutrition Research, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. hay@waytogo.no
Sandstad
B
B
Whitelaw
A
A
Borch-Iohnsen
B
B
D000367:Age Factors; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005293:Ferritins / Q000097:blood; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007501:Iron / Q000097:blood*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009664:Norway / Q000453:epidemiology; D012737:Sex Factors
D006454:Hemoglobins; D005293:Ferritins; D007501:Iron