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Query: UMLS:C0240066 (iron deficiency)
 7,156 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

An estimated 2150 million people are iron deficient, with deficiency severe enough to cause anemia in 1200 million people globally. Widespread particularly among tropical low-income populations, anemia has serious health and functional consequences. Due to their increased iron demands of menstruation and pregnancy, women of fertile age and pregnant-lactating women are especially affected by anemia and iron deficiency. Approximately 47% of non-pregnant women and 60% of pregnant women worldwide have anemia, while those who are iron deficient without anemia may comprise 60% and 90%, respectively. The anemic pregnant woman is at greater risk of death during the perinatal period. Iron deficiency also affects performance during pregnancy and delivery, lactation performance, working capacity and general well-being, and immunity status. Infants are adversely affected in terms of health, development, hematological status, and iron nutrition. Most anemia is, however, the result of severe iron deficiency, and therefore open to prevention and treatment interventions with a very high benefit/cost ratio. Accordingly, world authorities have agreed that anemia in pregnant women must be reduced by one-third by the year 2000. The author recommends expanding the target for iron supplementation to all women of fertile age who might become pregnant, the adoption of a preventive instead of therapeutic approach to iron deficiency, and the exploration of new supplementation programs.
SCN News 1994
PMID:The consequences of iron deficiency and anaemia in pregnancy on maternal health, the foetus and the infant. 1228 29

A child responds to a deficiency of an essential nutrient either by continuing to grow and consuming body stores with eventual reduction in the bodily functions (Type I) or by reducing growth and avidly conserving the nutrient to maintain the concentration of the nutrient in the tissues (Type II). Examples of Type I nutrient deficiency are anemia (iron deficiency), beri-beri (thiamin deficiency), pellagra (niacin or nicotinic acid deficiency), scurvy (vitamin C or ascorbic acid deficiency), xerophthalmia (vitamin A or retinol deficiency) and iodine deficiency disorders. Diagnosis is relatively simple via clinical symptoms and measurement of the concentration of the nutrient itself. There are no characteristic symptoms to distinguish which Type II nutrient deficiency an individual has; all deficiencies result in the poor growth, stunting, and wasting generally ascribed to protein-energy malnutrition. In Type II, growth stops, the body starts to conserve the nutrient, and its excretion falls to very low levels. In severe deficiency the body may start to break down its own tissues and the reduction of appetite accompanies this condition. An animal can die from zinc deficiency even though it is has a normal concentration of zinc in its tissues, but it can respond rapidly to small amount of dietary zinc. The mechanisms by which the body stops growing in response to nutritional lack are similar to the hormonal picture seen in endocrine disease (reduction of the production of the hormonal mediators of growth, down-regulation of receptors, and reduction of protein synthesis). Growth failure is the clinical sign characteristic of a diet deficient in protein, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium. Wasting may be also ascribed to toxins, infection, worms, or persistent diarrhea. Anorexia is another common response in nutrient deficiency. Only a supplementation diet with a balance of nutrients will promote rapid recovery.
SCN News 1995
PMID:Specific deficiencies versus growth failure: type I and type II nutrients. 1234 13

Data from the Partnership for Child Development shows that nutrition problems of school children may be greater and more widespread than previously thought; its experience indicates that school-based health and nutrition programs are feasible and effective. A survey of donors and agencies reveals wide support for school health and nutrition programs. Data on iron deficiency from a database developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate a higher prevalence of anemia in school-age children than in pre-school children. In school-aged children in Mongolia, the very low intake of fruit is responsible for the lower than normal values of some essential vitamins and minerals. Food-for-school programs, such as the national program in India, provide food to take home to children with high attendance records; this is used to attract the enrollment and attendance of children, particularly girls. In India, the government-funded Nutritional Support to Primary Education Programme has been successful in rural areas and will include the entire country by the end of 1998. In Indonesia, the school feeding program in designated 'poor' villages continues to be funded by the government in spite of the economic crisis there. In South Africa, a case study has shown that the use of fortified biscuits as a snack food results in the significant improvement of the micronutrient status of school children. Concerns learned from the Kenyan programs, which have suffered from a lack of funds, include the key role of parents, the safety and quality of food from vendors and hawkers, and the use of money, which was given to children for food, for drugs. Guidelines that promote healthy eating for school children in the US have been developed. Overeating, obesity, eating disorders, and the future risk of chronic disease have become problems in developed countries and among some groups of people in developing countries. In developed countries, personal preferences drive the nutritional patterns of school children, rather than the availability of food. In Nepal, a study indicates that, among children in more affluent schools, preferences are moving toward modern convenience foods of poor nutritional quality.
SCN News 1998 Jul
PMID:Nutrition of the school-aged child. 1234 62