Health Outcomes - Anemia

Although anemia can have several etiologies, one of the most common causes in young children is iron deficiency. This is usually the result of inadequate dietary intake.  Many low-income families struggle with food insecurity and do not have sufficient funds to buy healthy foods.  Below you will find some policies that have been enacted to combat iron deficiency anemia.  Despite these policies, there are still different outcomes when one looks at family income.  How are we doing to improve iron deficiency anemia?

National Health Statistics 

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Policy Statements

American Academy of Pediatrics
(All documents are verbatim abstracts)

PEDIATRICS Vol. 117 No. 2 February 2006, pp. 544-559 (doi:10.1542/peds.2005-2374) 

Dietary Recommendations for Children and Adolescents: A Guide for Practitioners 

American Heart Association, Samuel S. Gidding, MD, Chair, Barbara A. Dennison, MD, Cochair, Leann L. Birch, PhD, Stephen R. Daniels, MD, PhD, Matthew W. Gilman, MD, Alice H. Lichtenstein, DSc, Karyl Thomas Rattay, MD, Julia Steinberger, MD, Nicolas Stettler, MD, Linda Van Horn, PhD, RD 
Since the American Heart Association last presented nutrition guidelines for children, significant changes have occurred in the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and nutrition behaviors in children. Overweight has increased, whereas saturated fat and cholesterol intake have decreased, at least as percentage of total caloric intake. Better understanding of children's cardiovascular risk status and current diet is available from national survey data. New research on the efficacy of diet intervention in children has been published. Also, increasing attention has been paid to the importance of nutrition early in life, including the fetal milieu. This scientific statement summarizes current available information on cardiovascular nutrition in children and makes recommendations for both primordial and primary prevention of cardiovascular disease beginning at a young age. 

Key Words: AHA scientific statements • adolescents • children • diet • nutrition 

Abbreviations: AHA—American Heart Association • FDA—Food and Drug Administration • LDL—low-density lipoprotein

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PEDIATRICS Vol. 104 No. 1 July 1999, pp. 119-123 

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS:

Iron Fortification of Infant Formulas 

Committee on Nutrition 
Despite the American Academy of Pediatrics' (AAP) strong endorsement for breastfeeding, most infants in the United States are fed some infant formula by the time they are 2 months old. The AAP Committee on Nutrition has strongly advocated iron fortification of infant formulas since 1969 as a way of reducing the prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia and its attendant sequelae during the first year.1 The 1976 statement titled "Iron Supplementation for Infants" delineated the rationale for iron supplementation, proposed daily dosages of iron, and summarized potential sources of iron in the infant diet.2 In 1989, the AAP Committee on Nutrition published a statement that addressed the issue of iron-fortified infant formulas3 and concluded that there was no convincing contraindication to iron-supplemented formulas and that continued use of "low-iron" formulas posed an unacceptable risk for iron deficiency during infancy. The current statement represents a scientific update and synthesis of the 1976 and 1989 statements with recommendations about the use of iron-fortified and low-iron formulas in term infants. 

Full policy statement »