title: Iron bioavailability as a protective factor against anemia among children aged 12 to 16 months.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study investigates the nutritional factors that determine the absence of anemia in infants from families with a low socioeconomic background submitted to a nutrition intervention program, as well as iron intake according to recommendations.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 369 children from a cohort of inhabitants of São Leopoldo, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, who were randomized at birth into an intervention group and into a control group. The intervention group had nutritional guidance in the first year of life, with monthly follow-up home visits, whereas the control group was visited at 6 and 12 months, without nutritional intervention. At the end of the first year of life, a 24-hour recall was used. Anemia was diagnosed based on a hemoglobin level less than 11 g/dL. The children's diets were classified according to iron bioavailability.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of anemia amounted to 63.7% in this study. The proportion of children with adequate iron intake relative to the recommendations was statistically higher in the nonanemic group (26.8%) than in the anemic one (17.7%). Nonanemic children had a greater intake of iron (p = 0.019), vitamin C (p = 0.001), energy density at dinner (p = 0.006), iron density per 1,000 calories (p = 0.045); and 16.3% of them had a diet with high iron bioavailability (p = 0.002).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A diet with high iron bioavailability protects children from anemia and can be used as an intervention measure by basic health services and by the municipal departments of children's education.
authors.affiliation: Fundação Faculdade Federal de Ciências Médicas de Porto Alegre (FFFCMPA), Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil. marciavitolo@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Márcia Regina
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Vitolo
authors.forename: Gisele Ane
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Bortolini
mesh_terms: D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D001205:Ascorbic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage; D001682:Biological Availability; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004034:Diet Surveys; D002149:Energy Intake / Q000502:physiology; D006418:Heme / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D019266:Iron, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D009752:Nutritional Status / Q000502:physiology; D012923:Social Class; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D019266:Iron, Dietary; D006418:Heme; D001205:Ascorbic Acid