Daily and weekly iron supplementation and physical growth of school age Indonesian children.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of 3 months iron supplementation on physical growth among anemic school children given daily and weekly and to know the response based on hemoglobin level. SUBJECT: One hundred forty-four children were measured for height, weight and hemoglobin level. Ninety seven children were anemic (67.36%) with Hb level < 12 g/dl and forty seven children were non anemic. anemic children were divided into 2 subgroups and randomly assigned to either daily and weekly Fe treatment for 12 weeks. The non anemic group were treated with weekly iron supplementation, which was accepted by the parents. OUTCOME MEASURES: Children's height, weight, and hemoglobin of T1 and T2 food recall method was used to know calorie, protein, vitamin C and iron intake in both daily and weekly subgroups. Three days food recall was performed in the second and third months by a nutritionist. RESULT: After iron supplementation, the hemoglobin level in both group increased significantly. The average change of hemoglobin between the 2 groups gave no significant difference. W/A and H/A after iron supplementation showed significantly increased in both groups. The average change of W/A and H/A between the 2 groups gave no significant difference. CONCLUSION: Daily and weekly iron supplementation showed no significant difference in increasing of hemoglobin level and physical growth. Further research must be done with appropriate sample size and well design.

Preliminary findings on iron supplementation and learning achievement of rural Indonesian children.

The effects of oral iron supplementation on blood iron levels and learning achievement in 130 rural Indonesian school children were assessed in this double-blind study. The children were classified into anemic and nonanemic groups according to their initial hemoglobin and transferrin saturation levels and were randomly assigned to either iron or placebo treatment for 3 mo. Hematological, anthropometric, and learning-achievement data were collected before (T1) and after (T2) the treatment period and 3 mo later. The means and standard deviations suggest that supplementation with 10 mg ferrous sulfate per kilogram body weight per day for 3 mo resulted in an apparent improvement in anemic subjects' hematological status and learning-achievement scores. No tests of statistical comparisons are reported.

Iron supplementation and physical growth of rural Indonesian children.

The effect of oral iron supplementation on blood Fe levels and physical growth in 119 rural Indonesian school children was assessed in this double-blind study. The children were classified into anemic and normal groups according to their initial hemoglobin and transferrin saturation levels and were randomly assigned to either Fe or placebo treatment for 12 wk. Hematological, anthropometric, and morbidity data were collected before and after the treatment period. Before treatment, anemic subjects were smaller and had higher morbidity than normal subjects. Treatment with 10 mg ferrous sulfate.kg-1.d-1 for 12 wk resulted in a significant improvement in anemic subjects' hematological status, growth velocity, and level or morbidity.

Iron deficiency anemia and educational achievement.

The present study investigates the effect of iron supplementation on measures of school performance among 78 iron-deficient anemic and 41 nonanemic children in an economically deprived rural area in Central Java, Indonesia. All the subjects were treated for ancylostomiasis before iron supplementation. They were randomly assigned to either an iron or placebo group. Hematological and behavioral measurements were obtained immediately before (T1) and after (T2) the iron and placebo treatments. Iron treatment for a 3-mo period resulted in substantive increases in mean Hgb, Hct, and transferrin saturation among the iron-deficient anemic children. Furthermore, changes in the iron status of iron-deficient anemic children were associated with significant changes in the school achievement test scores of iron-deficient anemic children. T2 evaluation of achievement test scores indicated that the difference between iron-treated anemic and nonanemic children was still statistically significant. However, when T1 scores were entered as a covariate, iron-deficient anemic subjects treated with iron obtained significantly higher delta achievement scores. Findings from the present study indicate that iron supplementation among iron-deficient anemic children benefits learning processes as measured by the school achievement test scores.