Iron corrects anaemia in children - Studies reveal
Studies by the Kintampo Health Research Centre (KHRC) have revealed that meals containing iron for anaemic children correct the condition.
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The studies showed that providing anaemic children with the micronutrient powder MNP-Sprinkles®) containing iron as part of their routine meals resolved their anaemic status.
According to the studies, which involved 1,958 anaemic children between six and 35 months in the Wenchi and the Tain districts in the Brong Ahafo Region, the provision of iron to anaemic children could enhance motor and cognitive development and reduce the prevalence of severe anaemia in them.
The micronutrient powders were added to complementary foods daily for five months.
The Director of the KHRC, Dr Seth Owusu-Agyei, who made this known to the Daily Graphic, said evidence from earlier studies carried out in eastern Africa had suggested that treatment with iron to resolve iron deficiency anaemia might lead to increase in the incidence of malaria attacks and in some cases an increase in the severity of malaria attacks and thereby put children at a higher risk of malaria and death.
But the research by the KHRC, he said, proved otherwise, as it showed that in settings where insecticide treated nets (ITNs) were provided and prompt/appropriate malaria treatment with Artesunate combination therapies (ACTs) were available, daily use of micronutrient powders with iron did not increase the incidence or severity of malaria among young children living in a malaria-endemic area.
Rather, malaria incidence overall was significantly lower in the iron group, compared with the non iron group.
The 12-month long research, which was a collaboration between the KHRC and the SPRINKLES Global Health Initiative in Toronto, Canada, was aimed at developing Sprinkles as a complementary food supplement for use in reducing the burden of anaemia among young children in developing countries.
In developing countries, it is estimated that more than 40 to 50 per cent of children less than five years are iron deficient, primarily due to diets inadequate in bio-available iron.
This condition can be harmful to their mental, social, emotional and physical development, with long-term consequences on economic productivity and national development.
According to Dr Owusu-Agyei, there was the need to scale up the Sprinkles intervention, which is a combination of iron, vitamin A, zinc and other vitamins, for anaemia control in Ghana and other similar settings.
He said the primary objective of the research was to determine the impact of providing iron micronutrient with or without iron on the incidence and severity of malaria among young children living in communities classified as high malaria burden areas.
By Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho/Daily Graphic/Ghana