title: [Effect of weekly rice fortification with iron on anemia prevalence and hemoglobin concentration among children attending public daycare centers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil].
abstract: This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, community-based trial. For 16 weeks, children in the intervention group (n = 180) received iron-fortified rice, while children in the control group (n = 174) received rice with placebo. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin < 11.0g/dL. Student's t-test was used to compare mean variation in hemoglobin between the groups. Hemoglobin concentration improved in both groups, with a mean increase of 0.42g/ dL in the intervention group (11.28+/-1.23g/dL to 11.75+/-1.16g/dL, p < 0.001), and 0.49g/dL in controls (11.06+/-1.13g/dL to 11.51+/-1.16g/dL, p < 0.001). Anemia decreased (p < 0.01) in both groups (37.8% to 23.3% in the intervention group and 45.4% to 33.3% in controls), with no significant difference between the two. Hemoglobin increase was significantly higher in children that received total iron = 53.76mg from fortified rice, compared to those who received less than this cut-off value (0.94g/dl vs. 0.39g/dl, p = 0.03). The findings suggest that this type of intervention can be useful in anemia control as long as fortified food intake is adequate.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Nutrição Josué de Castro, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. ursulaviana@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ursula Viana
authors.initials: UV
authors.lastname: Bagni
authors.forename: Mirian Ribeiro
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Baião
authors.forename: Marta Maria Antonieta de Souza
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Ronir Raggio
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Luiz
authors.forename: Gloria Valeria da
authors.initials: GV
authors.lastname: Veiga
mesh_terms: D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D005527:Food, Fortified; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D019266:Iron, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008297:Male; D012275:Oryza; D015995:Prevalence; D012572:School Health Services; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins; D019266:Iron, Dietary