The impact of weekly iron supplementation on the iron status and growth ofadolescent girls in Tanzania

We evaluated the effect of weekly doses of 400 mg of ferrous sulphate for 4 months on the iron status of adolescent girls in a controlled trial in Tan ga, Tanzania. Supplementation led to a significantly greater increase in se rum ferritin compared with the control group (+ 15.6 mug/l vs. 8.6 mug/l) ( P = 0.002) but there was no significant difference in change in haemoglobin . Children given iron showed a significantly greater weight gain than contr ols (+ 2.4 kg vs. + 1.4 kg) (P = 0.03). Weekly iron supplementation may be an effective means of increasing iron stores and growth in children vulnera ble to iron deficiency.