Weekly Iron Supplementation for the Prevention of Anemia in Pre-school Children: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial

Objective: This study analyses the impact of weekly iron supplementation with ferrous sulphate heptahydrate (FeSO4) in 5-year-olds compared with placebo, on hemoglobin (Hb) and hematocrit (Ht) values and anemia. Design: the study concerns a cluster-randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind trial. Intervention participants received 50 mg elemental iron for 14 weeks. Setting: the study population comprised pre-school children (n = 135) from one randomly chosen public school in the northeast of Brazil. Subjects: Participants were 5-year-old students from a public school. Results: Mean Hb and Ht values increased after iron supplementation, with p < 0.0001. There was no statistically significant increase in the placebo group. After intervention, anemia prevalence reduced only in the intervention group, from 48.0% to 26.0%. Conclusions: Weekly iron supplementation was effective in reducing anemia in 5-year-olds.Santa Casa de Misericordia de Sobral Hospital, Sobral, CE, BrazilSecretariat of Education and Secretariat of Health at the Municipal City Hall-Sobral-CEUniv Fed Ceara, Dept Pediat, Sobral Unit, Sobral, CE, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Pediat, São Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Ceara, Dept Pediat, Fortaleza Unit, Fortaleza, Ceara, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Pediat, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc