Older news items (pre-2010) brought over from the old website
Iron supplements might harm infants who have enough
U.S. infant formulas typically come fortified with 12 mg/L of iron to prevent iron-deficiency anemia, although Europe generally uses a lower amount. A study of 494 Chilean children has now showed that those who received iron fortified formula in infancy at the 12 mg level used in the U.S. lagged behind those who received low-iron formula in cognitive and visual-motor development by age 10 years. While most children who received the higher level formula did not show lower scores, the 5% with the highest hemoglobin levels at 6 months showed the poorest outcome. Adversely affected children scored 11 points lower in IQ and 12 points lower in visual-motor integration. This suggests that those who are not deficient in iron are adversely affected by giving them too much. It seems likely that more than 5% of U.S. infants will have high hemoglobin levels. More research is needed to confirm this finding.
Castillo, M. & Smith, J.B. 2008. Poorer developmental outcome at 10 years with 12 mg/L iron-fortified formula in infancy. Paper presented May 5 at the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in Honolulu.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-05/uom-ism043008.php
Iron-deficient infants have lower cognitive scores at 19, especially in lower socioeconomic levels
Another study has come out finding that teenagers who were iron-deficient as infants continue to lag behind their peers in cognitive test scores, with a wider gap for children at lower socioeconomic levels. The study of 185 children from an urban area in Costa Rica, found that among children from middle-class families, initial scores on cognitive tests were eight points apart, 101.2 for those with iron deficiency and 109.3 for those with sufficient iron levels, and this gap remained at eight or nine points through 19 years. However, for those in lower socio-economic classes, initial scores that were ten points apart (93.1 for iron-deficient infants and 102.8 for those with normal iron levels) had widened by 19 years to 25 points (70.4 vs. 95.3). The finding points to the snowball effect of early failure.
[1145] Lozoff, B., Jimenez E., & Smith J. B.
(2006). Double Burden of Iron Deficiency in Infancy and Low Socioeconomic Status: A Longitudinal Analysis of Cognitive Test Scores to Age 19 Years.
Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 160(11), 1108 - 1113.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-11/jaaj-idi110206.php
Impact of iron deficiency in infancy continues into adolescence
A new study has found that teens who suffered iron deficiency as infants are likely to score lower on cognitive and motor tests, even if that iron deficiency was identified and treated in infancy. The study followed 191 children. Those who were diagnosed with severe, chronic iron deficiency when they were 12-23 months old and were treated with iron supplements, lagged behind their peers in both motor and mental measures. The difference, moreover, actually increased over time. The iron-deficient infants scored about six points lower on cognitive tests at age 1-2 years, and 11 points lower at age 15-18 years. The gap was even more pronounced for children of families with low socioeconomic status, lower stimulation in the home or mothers lower in IQ. For children with good iron status, family conditions did not seem to affect their cognitive test scores. The researcher stressed that the children were not generally malnourished. Moreover, it must be emphasized that these children received treatment for their iron deficiency, yet still showed continuing ill effects, pointing to the need to prevent the deficiency occurring in the first place.
Lozoff, B. 2004. Longitudinal Analysis of Cognitive and Motor Effects of Iron Deficiency in Infancy. Presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies' annual meeting in San Francisco May 3.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-05/uom-iis050404.htm
American Academy of Pediatrics information on iron intake for infants: http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;104/1/119
Even moderate iron deficiency affects cognitive performance
A new study involving 149 young women (aged 18 to 35, average age 21), has found that iron supplementation significantly improved attention, short-term and long-term memory, and performance on cognitive tasks in those who were deficient in iron, even if not classified as anemic. On the baseline test, women who were iron deficient but not anemic completed the tasks in the same amount of time as iron sufficient women of the same age, but they performed significantly worse. Women who were anemic both performed significantly worse and took longer, with length of time increasing with degree of anemia. However, 16 weeks of iron supplementation markedly improved both scores and time to complete the task.
While iron deficiency was once presumed to exert most of its deleterious effects only if it had reached the level of anemia, it has more recently become recognized that many organs show negative changes in functioning before there is any drop in iron hemoglobin concentration. Iron deficiency is thought to occur in 9 – 11% of women of reproductive age and 25% of pregnant women. In non-industrialized countries, the prevalence of anemia is over 40% in non-pregnant women and over 50% for pregnant women and children aged five to 14.
Murray-Kolb, L., Beard, J. & Whitfield, K. 2004. presented at Experimental Biology 2004, in the American Society of Nutritional Sciences' scientific program.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-04/foas-mid040404.php
U.N. prescribes nutrient-fortified foods
A new U.N. survey says the brainpower of many developing countries has diminished because of a shortage of the right vitamins. To fight the problem, the United Nations is prescribing artificially fortified foods: soy sauce laced with zinc, "super salt" spiked with iron, cooking oil fortified with vitamin A. The report claimed a lack of iron lowered children's IQs by an average five to seven points, while a deficiency in iodine cuts it 13 more points. The report was produced by the Micronutrient Initiative and the United Nations Children's Fund.
http://www.micronutrient.org/
Iron deficiency may affect maths achievement in children and teens
A U.S. national study of 5,398 children aged 6 to 16 found iron deficiency in 3% of the children overall, and 8.7% of girls aged 12 to 16 (7% without anemia). Average math scores for iron-deficient children with or without anemia were about six points lower than those with normal iron levels. Among adolescent girls, the difference in scores was more than eight points. Previous research has linked iron-deficiency anemia with lower developmental test scores in young children, but there is less information on older children and on iron deficiency without anemia. It is suggested that this finding may help explain why the female superiority in maths at younger ages reverses itself in adolescence.
Halterman, J.S., Kaczorowski, J.M., Aligne, C.A., Auinger, P. & Szilagyi, P.G. 2001. Iron Deficiency and Cognitive Achievement Among School-Aged Children and Adolescents in the United States. Pediatrics, 107 (6), 1381-1386.
http://www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/abstract/107/6/1381
Anemia linked to impaired thinking in older adults
For older adults, anemia has long been linked to fatigue, muscle weakness and other physical ailments. But a new study suggests it may also be an independent risk factor for executive-function impairment. The study examined 364 women between 70 and 80 years old, of whom some 10% had mild anemia. Those with anemia were four to five times more likely to perform worst on the executive function tests.
[708] Chaves, P. H. M., Carlson M. C., Ferrucci L., Guralnik J. M., Semba R., & Fried L. P.
(2006). Association Between Mild Anemia and Executive Function Impairment in Community-Dwelling Older Women: The Women's Health and Aging Study II.
Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 54(9), 1429 - 1435.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-09/jhmi-aab091306.php