Pediatr Gastroenterol Hepatol Nutr.  2013 Jun;16(2):95-103.

Is It Possible to Predict the Iron Status from an Infant's Diet History?

• Kim HJ
• Kim DH
• Lee JE
• Kwon YS
• Jun YH
• Hong YJ
• Kim SK

Abstract

PURPOSE
Iron deficiency remains a very common nutritional problem despite the improvement in nutrition and increased understanding of methods for its prevention. Thus, we try to create a new method for screening iron nutrition through infant nutrition history.
METHODS
Among the children who visited Inha University Hospital from March 2006 to July 2012, 181 children with iron deficiency anemia (IDA) and 52 children without IDA ranging from 6 to 36 months of age were reviewed in this study. We used the age when they began to wean food, the type of sort weaning foods, the time required for successful weaning, iron content in weaning foods, and the duration of breastfeeding for scoring infant nutrition history based on a questionnaire.
RESULTS
The mean score of the IDA group was 7.8+/-2.6 points, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (5.6+/-2.1) (p=0.000). If we set up the cutoff value at 6 points, this screening has 86.8% sensitivity and 36% specificity. In addition, as the IDA score increased, there was a falling trend of hemoglobin.
CONCLUSION
The IDA score does not have high specificity or high sensitivity. However, this study conveys that those patients who record a high score have low hemoglobin. Therefore, we suggest this score system for screening more IDA patients via nonpainful techniques.

Keyword

Iron-deficiency anemia; Weaning; Breast feeding; Diet; Nutrition

MeSH Terms

Anemia, Iron-Deficiency
Breast Feeding
Child
Diet
Hemoglobins
Humans
Infant
Iron
Mass Screening
Sensitivity and Specificity
Weaning
Hemoglobins
Iron

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) score and comparison of the mean scores of the iron deficiency and control groups. The differences in the IDA scores of the patient group and control groups. The mean score of the IDA group (7.8±2.6) was significantly higher than that of the control group (5.6±2.1) (p=0.000).

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  Fig. 2 Correlation between the iron deficiency anemia (IDA) score and hemoglobin (Hb) level. The comparison of the IDA scores and Hb levels for all surveyed subjects revealed that the Hb level decreased as the IDA scores increased (R=0.386, p=0.000).

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