Mr. Domellof and his team studied 285 low-weight newborns. They gave the babies iron droplets every day for six months. Another group of 90 infants received drops of sugar water that contained no iron.
The boys and girls were examined three years later. Only three percent of those who got iron drops showed behavioral and cognitive problems. But 13 percent of those who got the sugar water had problems. The lack of iron did not seem to affect the results of intelligence tests taken by the children.
Mr. Domellof admits his study involved a small number of children. But he says it is the first study to show a direct link between iron deficiency and development-related attention and emotional problems in low birth-weight babies. He says such babies are often ignored in research because they do not appear to have problems.
“They are about five percent of all infants in the U.S. They are quite often neglected in studies, even though the, the few studies that have been performed actually show that these babies are at increased risk for behavioral problems, for cognitive problems, school problems, like that.”
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Mr. Domellof says even if a breast-feeding mother is taking iron supplements, that iron does not pass to her child through her breast milk. Iron-deficient children must take iron supplements directly with their food. He plans to examine the boys and girls from the earlier study in a few years to see if their intelligence test results have been affected.
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2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25