Anemia Common in Kids in Federal Nutrition Program

Tue Oct 15,10:37 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Many infants and children enrolled in a federal
nutrition program for poor US families still suffer from iron deficiency
anemia, new study findings show.
Children aged 9 to 18 months are at greatest risk for anemia, which can
have lasting affects on a child's mental development if the problem is severe.

The program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC), has been shown to reduce iron-deficiency anemia in
youngsters, because it provides poor families with iron-fortified formula
and cereal and vouchers for other iron-containing foods for their
nutritionally at-risk children.

But the new study findings suggest that the program may be less effective
than previously thought.

"Despite ongoing receipt of WIC benefits, many children develop anemia or
remain anemic," report Dr. Jennifer L. Kahn of Northwestern University in
Chicago, Illinois, and her colleagues in the October issue of the journal
Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
They investigated the prevalence of anemia in a 2-year study of 7,053
infants and children, aged 6 months to roughly 5 years, who participated in
the Chicago WIC nutrition program.

Altogether, they found that the younger infants--aged 6 to 8 months--were
roughly three times more likely to be anemic than the older 3- to 5-year
olds, they report

Further, the frequent anemia screenings required for continuing eligibility
for the WIC program did not seem to be associated with lower rates of
anemia, as previously thought, study findings indicate.

In fact, 8.5% of the 2,926 children who were screened for anemia at least
three times eventually developed the condition, and 19% of those who were
initially anemic remained anemic. What's more, an additional 7% of the
children who underwent screenings twice and had normal test results were
identified as anemic by their third screening.

The good news was that most children were only slightly under the cut off
value for anemia and so were not severely anemic. It's also possible that
iron levels may have dipped only temporarily, which can occur after viral
infections, according to the report.

The reasons for the high prevalence of anemia may be because the nutrition
education sessions provided for WIC participants are not very effective, or
because the children who are identified as anemic are not required to seek
medical treatment, the researchers speculate. Also, some children may have
had other illnesses that increased their risk of anemia.

"These data support the use of a frequent screening strategy, such as that
recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web
sites) (CDC), in this high-risk population," the authors conclude. The CDC
recommends that children be screened once between the ages of 9 months and
one year, again six months later and then once every year following until
the age of 5.
According to a recent report from the CDC, mild degrees of iron deficiency
are common in US toddlers, teenage girls and women of childbearing age.
Full-fledged iron deficiency anemia, however, remains rare.

SOURCE: Archive of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine 2002;156;1028-1032