title: The effect of iron on cognitive development and function in infants, children and adolescents: a systematic review.
abstract: A systematic review was conducted to summarize the evidence currently available from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) concerning the effect of iron intake of infants, children and adolescents on measures of cognitive development and function. The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE and Embase were searched up to and including February 2010. Studies were also identified by checking the bibliographies of the articles retrieved. All RCTs with an adequate control group in which iron supply was provided by natural food sources, fortified foods, formula or supplements to infants, children or adolescents until the age of 18 years were considered for inclusion. No language restrictions were applied. Fourteen studies met the selection criteria. Twelve out of these 14 studies had a high or moderate risk of bias. A large degree of heterogeneity of study populations, iron dosages and outcome measures precluded performing a quantitative meta-analysis. Overall, the studies suggest a modest positive effect of iron supplementation on cognition and psychomotor outcomes in anemic infants and children after supplementation periods of at least 2 months of duration.
authors.affiliation: Division of Metabolic and Nutritional Medicine, Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital, Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich Medical Centre, Munich, Germany. maria.hermoso@med.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hermoso
authors.forename: Vesna
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Vucic
authors.forename: Christiane
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vollhardt
authors.forename: Aleksandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arsic
authors.forename: Blanca
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Roman-Viñas
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Iglesia-Altaba
authors.forename: Mirjana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gurinovic
authors.forename: Berthold
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Koletzko
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000187:drug effects; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003071:Cognition / Q000187:drug effects*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D041943:Infant Formula / Q000008:administration & dosage; D019266:Iron, Dietary / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D015201:Meta-Analysis as Topic; D018977:Micronutrients / Q000008:administration & dosage; D009751:Nutritional Requirements; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000187:drug effects; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
chemical_list: D019266:Iron, Dietary; D018977:Micronutrients