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Iron deficiency (ID) is associated with abnormal neuropsychological development and is more common in infants with marginally low birth weight, between 2000 and 2500 grams. To determine whether benefits of early iron supplementation persist as these infants grow older, Swedish researchers assessed iron status in 243 marginally low-birth-weight infants who were randomized to receive 0 (placebo), 1, or 2 mg/kg/day of elemental iron from age 6 weeks to 6 months.
The prevalence of iron depletion (ferritin <12 µg/L) at 12 months was inversely associated with supplementation level (24%, 11%, and 7% with 0, 1, and 2 mg/kg/day, respectively). The prevalences of ID (defined as two out of three of these conditions: iron depletion, microcytosis, and tr…