The Epidemiology of Childhood Iron Deficiency: Evidence for Improving Iron Nutrition among US Children

Abstract

Iron deficiency is well known as the most common cause of childhood anemia. For this reason, the detection of anemia has been widely used as the primary screening for iron deficiency. Even though anemia represents only one of the many adverse consequences of iron deficiency, it is by far the best known, so that anemia, iron deficiency, and iron-deficiency anemia are often used as inter-changeable terms. In a strict clinical definition, the only cases of anemia that can be classified as iron-deficiency anemia are those with biochemical iron deficiency. However, for practical purposes, a presumed clinical diagnosis of iron deficiency and treatment with iron can be justified on the presence of anemia alone, since childhood anemia is so often the result of iron deficiency. For the same reason, monitoring the prevalence of anemia can yield helpful epidemiological information on the iron nutrition status of a population.