Iron deficiency anaemia in children from the City of S. Paulo

Abstract

In children from the City of S. Paulo, with ages between 6 and 60 months, anaemia related, to age, family income and mother schooling background were studied. Also, iron adequacy in the diet was compared with recommended dietary allowances for this nutrient and, finnaly, a small group received iron sulfate as a therapeutic test. The authors concluded that anaemia was of the iron deficiency type, mainly, more prevalent in children below 2 years old coming from low income families. To conclude, they recommend the profilatic use of iron sulfate for children during the first years of life and call attention to simplified technical methods for early diagnosis of anaemia to be used, as routine, in medical care of children under 2 years of age.