L. Palupi et al., EFFECTIVE COMMUNITY INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE HEMOGLOBIN STATUS IN PRESCHOOLERS RECEIVING ONCE-WEEKLY IRON SUPPLEMENTATION, The American journal of clinical nutrition, 65(4), 1997, pp. 1057-1061
The effect of weekly iron supplementation with and without deworming o
n hemoglobin was investigated in a double-masked, placebo-controlled f
ield trial. Subjects were 289 preschoolers who were randomly divided i
nto three groups. Groups 1 and 2 received 30 mg Fe once weekly and gro
up 3 received a placebo. Group 1 additionally received anthelminthic t
reatment. Supplements were administered by the mothers, who were educa
ted about iron deficiency beforehand. In the iron-supplemented groups
prevalence of anemia decreased from 37.2% to 16.2% (P < 0.001). Hemogl
obin increased by an average of 6.9 +/- 9.8 g/L in the two iron-supple
mented groups (n = 191), which was greater (P < 0.001) than the increa
se of 1.9 +/- 8.0 g/L in the placebo group. None of the subjects had h
ookworm, and anthelminthic treatment did not have an additional effect
. Iron supplements administered once weekly by mothers reduced anemia
without major involvement of health staff.