Anemia, a blood disorder common in women, is caused by an iron deficiency that results in a low hemoglobin count.

Iron deficiency anemia is associated with developmental delays that lead to poor performance on scales of mental and motor development among infants and toddlers, as well as on tests of intelligence and cognitive function among preschool and school-age children.

Iron, which helps build and replace blood cells that deliver oxygen throughout the body, is an important part of a healthy diet. Iron can be found in foods such as red meat, liver, whole wheat, kidney beans, prunes and raisins.

Compared with infants born to the women in the placebo group, the children born to the women in the iron group were significantly heavier (by more than 200 grams) at delivery. Women taking iron supplements were 76% less likely to have a baby with low birth weight than were women taking the placebo.

Iron deficiency at the beginning of pregnancy can be due to poor diet, menstrual losses, or other factors. Healthy, nonpregnant women should not supplement with iron unless they have an iron deficiency proven by a blood test.

Please never take iron supplements without medical advice. Iron supplements are only healthy if you have too little iron in your blood.

Iron deficiency can result from insufficient iron in the diet or from blood loss, explained the project officer for the initiative, Daniel J. Raiten, Ph.D., a health scientist administrator at NIH’s National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Among its roles in the body, iron is an essential component of red blood cells.

Among the study participants with infections, 127 children were given supplements and 52 given a placebo or pills that did not contain iron. One hundred and thirty four children without infection were given iron and 50 given the placebo.  Of the children with infections, those who received iron had 29 percent fewer upper respiratory episodes than those who received a placebo and had infectious episodes that were 40 percent less severe than those of the children who received placebos.

Because of the risk for anemia during the transition stage when solid foods are introduced, once iron-containing foods become a regular part of baby’s diet, efforts should be made to assure that baby is receiving plenty of high-iron foods, or maybe some iron-fortified baby cereal. Good sources of iron for baby include (in order of amount) meats, peas, tofu, beans, dark green vegetables, whole wheat natural baby cereal, avocado, and yam.

Iron deficiency commonly occurs in parts of the world where malaria and other major infectious diseases are also common, Dr. Raiten said. Malaria, caused by a parasite transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito, can result in severe headache, high fever, chills, and vomiting, and can be fatal.

Heme iron polypeptide can be used when regular iron supplements such as ferrous sulfate or ferrous fumarate are not tolerated or absorbed.

A baby who is shown to be anemic should receive iron supplementation until their blood iron levels reach normal values. Insufficient iron can impair proper neurological development.

It is important to understand that breastfed babies may have low iron stores, by design, but the level of available iron actually circulating in their blood (hemoglobin level) is the measure that counts at this age.

There are two forms of dietary iron: heme and nonheme. Heme iron is derived from hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that delivers oxygen to cells.

Side effects of therapy with iron are most often diarrhea or constipation and epigastric abdominal discomfort.

Be careful with multivitamins because supplements like calcium actually inhibit iron absorption.

Storage levels of iron have the greatest influence on iron absorption. Iron absorption increases when body stores are low.

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