Paediatric a Indonesiana

VOLUME 49 May· 2009 NUMBER 3

Effect of iron treatment on nutritional status of

children with iron deficiency anemia

Leon Agustian, Tiangsa Sembiring, Ani Ariani, Bidasari Lubis

Abstract he assessment of nutritional and growth

Background Iron has been shown to improve growth in children
with iron deficiency anemia (IDA), as indicted by increases in
height and weight. Frequently, malnutrition and iron deficiency
coexist.
Objective To determine the effect of iron treatment on nutritional
status in children with IDA.
T status is an essential part of clinical
evaluation and care in the pediatric setting.
Attention to nutritional status is parti-
cularly important because children are undergoing
complex growth and development processes. 1
Methods A randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial was Iron deficiency continues to be the most common
conducted at Bilah Hulu, a subdistrict of Labuhan Batu, North nutritional cause of anemia worldwide. It has been
Sumatera, Indonesia, between November 2006 and February
2007. Iron deficiency anemia was diagnosed if there anemia
estimated that 4-5 billion people in the world suffer
was present along with MCHC <31%, ROW index >220 and from iron deficiency anemia (IDA), with 90% of cases
Mentzer index> 13. Elementary school children (8-12 years old) occurring in developing countries, leading to higher
with IDA were randomly assigned to either receive a daily therapy morbidity and mortality rates. 2 IDA is most frequently
of 6 mg iron!kg/day or a placebo for three months. Nutritional
found in infants, children, and adolescents; this is due
status was evaluated by anthropometric assessment before and
after intervention. to high nutrient requirements because of high growth
Results From 300 subjects recruited, there were 111 (37.2%) rates in conjunction with dietary deficiencies. 3 In
with iron deficiency anemia; 108 of them completed the therapy. Indonesia, the 1995 Survey of Households showed
After intervention, the iron and placebo groups had different that 40.5% of infants and 47.3% of school children
mean hemoglobin concentrations (P <0.05), but there was no
significant difference in mean weight and height gain between
suffered from IDA. Survey of elementary school
the two groups. children (7-15 years) showed that half of all types
Conclusion A significant increase in hemoglobin concentration
was seen when iron was given, but did not affect weight and height
increase in the subjects. [Paediatr Indones. 2009;49: 160-4] .

Keywords: nutritional status, iron deficiency anemia,
anthropometric
Presented at the )Cd Annual Scientific Meeting, Indonesian Society of
Pediatricians, 6-9 May 2007, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
From the Department of Child Health, Medical School, North Sumatera
University, H. Adam Malik Hospital, Medan, Indonesia.

Reprint request to: Leon Agustian, MD, Department of Child Health,

Medical School, North Sumatra University, H. Adam Malik Hospital, J1.
Bunga Lau no. 17, Medan, Indonesia. Tel. +62-61-8361721. Fax. +62-
61-8361721. E-mail: leon.agustian@yahoo.com

160 • Paediatr Indones, Vol. 49, No.3, May 2009

Universitas Sumatera Utara

Universitas Sumatera Utara
Universitas Sumatera Utara
Universitas Sumatera Utara
Universitas Sumatera Utara