NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) -- The first national survey of blood iron levels in 20 years finds nearly 1 out of 10 women and small children suffering from iron deficiency.
"Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia are still relatively common in the United States among women of childbearing age... (and) also remain quite common among toddlers," according to researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics, a branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Hyattsville, Maryland.
Around 10% of adolescent girls and women of childbearing age are iron deficient, based on a nationwide survey of the blood iron levels of nearly 25,000 people.
According to the CDC, 2% to 5% of adolescent girls and premenopausal women have iron levels low enough to induce anemia.
The study also found that 9% of 1- to 2-year-olds lack sufficient iron, with 3% of toddlers anemic.
"These prevalences correspond to approximately 700,000 toddlers and 7.8 million women with iron deficiency; of these, approximately 240,000 toddlers and 3.3 million women have iron deficiency anemia," they say.
Toddlers may have more restricted diets than older children, experts believe, leaving them more prone to iron deficiency. The blood loss involved in menstrual flow can leave pre-menopausal women more vulnerable to the condition as well.
Just 1% to 2% of adolescent boys, adult males, and postmenopausal women report iron deficiency anemia, the CDC say.
Iron deficiency, or its more dangerous counterpart, anemia (a lack of iron leading to low levels of blood hemoglobin), can impair the immune response, bring on lethargy, and hamper work performance. The condition can cause slow mental development in young children.
The CDC say the problem first came under public scrutiny in the 1960s, when various studies revealed that between 8% to 64% of the American public were anemic. They say this "intensified efforts to combat iron deficiency." One initiative, the iron-fortification of certain foods, may be the primary reason the condition is now less common, they say.
But, among women and small children, lack of iron "remains a relatively prevalent nutritional condition." And the study finds the condition striking in poor and minority women and children, who have up to double the rates of iron deficiency found in affluent whites.
Among women, iron deficiency and anemia affects "especially those who are black or Mexican American, poor, and have 12 or fewer years of education, or four or more children," write the researchers.
The CDC are investigating the use of routine national screening for iron deficiency. Although screening across the population may not be feasible, they say "some form of screening may still be useful in young children and females of childbearing age." The National Academy of Sciences has already advised similar measures, and the CDC will issue their own recommendations on national screening soon.
SOURCE: The Journal of the American Medical Association (1997;277(12):973-976)
