Corrigenda tipped to title page. Bibliography: leaves 313-353. This study investigated the iron status and dietary intakes in 6-24 month old children in Australia and Ghana and assessed the effects of dietary calcium on intestinal iron absorption. The true prevalence of non-anaemic iron deficiency (NAID) and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) and dietary intakes in infants and toddlers from a broad socio-economic background were assessed by haematological and biochemical parameters, semi-quantitative diet recall and anthropometric measurements. The high prevalence of iron deficiency and anaemia found in Australian and Ghanaian children can be attributed to the low intake of bioavailable iron in weaning diets which are often ingested with large amounts of calcium. While calcium has been shown to inhibit the absorption of iron, its mechanism of interaction with iron absorption at the intestinal level is not known. The rat was used as an experimental model to investigate the effects of dietary calcium on duodenal iron uptake. The results indicate there is a critical period during weaning when the consumption of high dietary calcium with low iron can retard growth potential. Dietary calcium significantly inhibits non-haem iron absorption at the intracellular level by up-regulating villus enterocyte ferritin concentrations under iron deficiency conditions.

Bibliography: leaves 148-163.

Bibliography: leaves 148-163. / xix, 163, [43] leaves : ill. ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Public Health, 2001

The aims of the present studies were to determine the magnitude of iron deficiency anemia among preschool children in Northern Ethiopia and to evaluate different control strategies. The cross-sectional study showed that anemia was highly prevalent (42%) and that iron deficiency was the commonest cause of anemia. However, the iron deficiency was not due to lack of iron in the diet but to its poor availability and to other non-dietary risk factors. Unsafe water, mother's illness, older child (24--60 months), family not having food reserves and family income below poverty-line were predictors of anemia. Hookworm and malaria were rare and did not account for the anemia. In the iron pot study three types of Ethiopian foods were cooked in three types of pots (iron, aluminum and clay) and assessed for their total and available iron. After adjusting for cooking time and moisture, there were significantly higher total and available iron in all the three types of foods when cooked in iron pots compared to the aluminum or clay pots. The study also showed that the hemoglobin status and length of children improved significantly when they consumed food cooked in iron pots. In the third study, a randomized, placebo-controlled, and double-blind trial, both iron and vitamin A supplemented children showed increased hemoglobin levels. Combined iron and vitamin A supplementation showed the highest rise. Iron-supplemented children showed increase in length, but no increase in weight. They also showed lower rates of c-reactive protein positivity and decreases in the prevalence and frequency of diarrhea. A single dose of vitamin A did not result in any increase in length or weight but a decrease in the prevalence and frequency of diarrhea was observed. Children supplemented with iron only or vitamin A only showed higher ARI rates, but those children who received combined iron and vitamin A showed significantly lower ARI rates. Iron supplementation did not have any effect on either zinc

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to measure the effectiveness of a grocery store tour that emphasized sources of iron-rich, kid-friendly foods on the participants’ knowledge about dietary iron and iron-rich food sources. A second purpose was to determine if, three months after the grocery store tour, the serum iron levels of the children who had previously been identified by the WIC (Supplemental Women, Infants, and Children) program as being low was higher as compared to the serum iron levels of the control group. Ten parents of children with low iron levels participated in this study, 5 in the control group and 5 in the treatment group. Data collection took place for this research study over the course of three months. The results of this study indicated that the grocery store intervention seemed to have no impact on the children’s hemoglobin levels. The results of this study also indicated that the grocery store tour intervention seemed to have no impact on children’s consumption of iron rich foods. However, the grocery store tour intervention did have a positive impact on parents’ knowledge of iron rich foods and their ability to use unit pricing. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The objective of this study was to evaluate copper sulphate densitometry as a screening method for anaemia in children. The accuracy of copper sulphate densitometry was also compared to clinical assessment for the presence of pallor and haemoglobin measurement with a BMS-haemoglobinometer. Different observers performed these three screening tests independently. For the purposes of this study, anaemia was defined as a laboratory haemoglobin (Hb) concentration below 10 g/dl. A cross-sectional screening study was undertaken, where the results of the different screening tests were compared to laboratory haemoglobin determination (gold standard). The study sample consisted of one hundred consecutive children, aged between 6 months and 6 years, whose parents had given informed written consent for participation. The study was conducted in the Paediatric Outpatient Department of Pretoria Academic Hospital (73 children) and a local creche (27 children). In this study sample, the prevalence of anaemia (Hb < 10 g/dl) was 17% (95% Confidence Interval (95%CI) 10.2; 25.8). Clinical assessment by students for the presence of pallor had a sensitivity of 41.2% (95%CI 19.4; 66.5), specificity of 81.9% (95%CI 71.6; 89.2), positive predictive value of 31.8% (95% CI14.7; 54.9) and negative predictive value of 87.2%(95%CI 77.2; 93.3). The likelihood ratio for detection of anaemia by clinical assessment was 2.3. Copper sulphate densitometry had a sensitivity of 88.2% (95%CI 62.3; 97.9), specificity of 89.2% (95%CI 79.9; 94.6), positive predictive value of 62.5% (95% CI 40.8; 80.5) and negative predictive value of 97.4% (95%CI 90.0; 99.5) to screen for anaemia. The Likelihood Ratio of a positive copper sulphate-screening test was 8.17. On average, haemoglobin concentration was underestimated by 0.29 g/dl with the BMS-haemoglobinometer, with the 95% limits of agreement ranging from underestimation by 1.3 g/dl to over-estimation by 1.9 g/dl. Logistic regression analysis revealed that both the copper sulphate test and measurements with the BMS-haemoglobinometer predicted anaemia accurately. The area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve for the haemoglobinometer was 0.94 (95%CI 0.87; 1), while the area under the curve for copper sulphate densitometry was 0.89 (95% CI 0.73; 1). Used together, the area under the ROC curve was 0.95 (95% CI 0.89; 1). In resource-poor settings, copper sulphate densitometry could be an accurate, inexpensive and simple screening method for anaemia in children. / Dissertation (MSc (Clinical Epidemiology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Clinical Epidemiology / unrestricted

No description available.

The purpose of the study was to determine what nutritional, demographic, and behavioral differences existed between children one year of age from two similar WIC clinics with different prevalences of anemia. Children from the higher-prevalence site were found to consume significantly (p < .05) more B12, C, copper, fiber, folate, total kilocalories, and riboflavin than did children from the lower-prevalence site. Family income and maternal weight gain were significantly (p < .05) higher in the lower-prevalence group as compared to the higher-prevalence group. In addition, children from the higher-prevalence site were enrolled in the WIC program at a significantly (p < .05) younger age than were children from the lower-prevalence site.