IRON DEFICIENCY in INFANCY and CHILDHOOD

I RON DEFICIENCY is the most common nu-tritional deficiency encountered in chil-dren. The important factors respon-sible for this situation are the constant demand for iron in the growing child, the very low iron content of the foods which make up the bulk of the infant’s diet, and the high inci-dence of “feeding problems. ” This report will present data concerning 162 infants and children with moderate to severe iron-defi-ciency anemia seen at St. Christopher’s Hos-pital for Children. The clinical findings in these patients will define the problem of iron deficiency as it is commonly encountered. A small number of the patients have been studied extensively in an attempt to demonstrate some of the fundamental metabolic alterations pres-ent in this disease. The 162 children were all in-patients on the 1)ediatric service, most of them being admitted for conditions other than anemia. All of the patients included in this report had hemoglo-bin levels far below the range of normal for their age, the highest value being 9.9 Gm. per 100 cc. of blood. In each instance the anemia was found to be of the hypochromic, micro-cytic variety, characteristic of iron deficiency. INCIDENCE The most common anemia in infancy and childhood is that due to iron deficiency. From our clinical material we are not able to deter-mine the overall incidence of iron deficienc