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Iron status in low‐birth‐weight infants, small and appropriate for gestational age. A follow‐up study
Author(s) -
Olivares M,
Llaguno S,
Marin V,
Hertrampf E,
Mena P,
Milad M
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1992.tb12111.x
Subject(s) - medicine , small for gestational age , gestational age , iron status , low birth weight , birth weight , obstetrics , pediatrics , pregnancy , iron deficiency , anemia , genetics , biology
Iron nutrition was measured in 84 low‐birth‐weight infants. At birth, they were assigned to three groups: preterm infants appropriate for gestational age ( n = 29); preterm infants small for gestational age ( n = 17); and full‐term infants* small for gestational age ( n = 38). A sub‐sample of infants was supplemented with iron 3 mg/kg from two to four months of age. At birth, preterm appropriate‐for‐gestational‐age infants had a lower hemoglobin concentration than full‐term small‐for‐gestational‐age infants ( p < 0.01) and a higher serum ferritin than preterm small‐for‐gestational‐age infants ( p < 0.05). In the non‐supplemented group, full‐term small‐for‐gestational‐age infants had significantly higher hemoglobin concentrations at four months of age. At this age, iron‐supplemented preterm infants appropriate or small for gestational age had significantly higher hemoglobin levels than non‐supplemented subjects, while iron supplementation did not have an effect on final hemoglobin concentration in full‐term small‐for‐gestational‐age infants. We conclude that preterm infants, irrespective of their adequacy for gestational age, show evidence of iron deficiency before four months of age. Full‐term infants do not develop iron deficiency up to this age.