Anemia Prevention

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide. The WHO estimates that 80 percent of people are iron deficient and 30 percent of the world population has iron-deficiency anemia. The main causes of iron deficiency worldwide are parasitic worm infections in the gut causing excessive blood loss, and malaria, a parasitic disease causing the destruction of red blood cells. In the developed world, iron deficiency is more the result of dietary insufficiency and/or excessive blood loss occurring during menstruation or childbirth. Infants, children, adolescents, and women are the populations most at risk worldwide for iron-deficiency anemia by all causes. Infants, children, and even teens require more iron because iron is essential for growth. In these populations, iron deficiency and eventually iron-deficiency anemia can also cause poor growth, failure to thrive, and poor performance in school, as well as mental, motor, and behavioral disorders. Women who experience heavy menstrual bleeding or who are pregnant require more iron in the diet. One more high-risk group is the elderly. Both elderly men and women have a high incidence of anemia and the most common causes are dietary iron deficiency and chronic disease such as ulcer, inflammatory diseases, and cancer. Additionally, those who have recently suffered from traumatic blood loss, frequently donate blood, or take excessive antacids for heartburn need more iron in the diet. In young children iron-deficiency anemia can cause significant motor, mental, and behavioral abnormalities that are long-lasting. In the United States, the high incidence of iron-deficiency anemia in infants and children was a major public-health problem prior to the early 1970s, but now the incidence has been greatly reduced. This achievement was accomplished by implementing the screening of infants for iron-deficiency anemia in the health sector as a common practice, advocating the fortification of infant formulas and cereals with iron, and distributing them in supplemental food programs, such as that within Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Breastfeeding, iron supplementation, and delaying the introduction of cow’s milk for at least the first twelve months of life were also encouraged. Other solutions for young children included providing a diet rich in sources of iron and vitamin C, limiting cow’s milk consumption to less than twenty-four ounces per day, and using a multivitamin containing iron. In the third world, iron-deficiency anemia remains a significant public-health challenge. The World Bank claims that a million deaths occur every year from anemia and that the majority of those occur in Africa and Southeast Asia. Key interventions to combat anemia include providing at-risk groups with iron supplements; fortifying staple foods with iron and other micronutrients whose deficiencies are linked with anemia; preventing the spread of malaria and treating those with the disease; providing insecticide-treated bed netting to prevent parasitic infections; and treating parasitic-worm infestations in high-risk populations. Also, there is ongoing investigation as to whether supplying iron cookware to at-risk populations is effective in preventing and treating iron-deficiency anemia."