Daily and weekly iron supplementation and physical growth of school age Indonesian children

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the effect of 3 months iron supplementation on physical growth among anemic school children given daily and weekly and to know the response based on hemoglobin level.

Subject: One hundred forty-four children were measured for height, weight and hemoglobin level. Ninety seven children were anemic (67.36%) with Hb level < 12 g/dl and forty seven children were non anemic. anemic children were divided into 2 subgroups and randomly assigned to either daily and weekly Fe treatment for 12 weeks. The non anemic group were treated with weekly iron supplementation, which was accepted by the parents.

Outcome measures: Children's height, weight, and hemoglobin of T1 and T2 food recall method was used to know calorie, protein, vitamin C and iron intake in both daily and weekly subgroups. Three days food recall was performed in the second and third months by a nutritionist.

Result: After iron supplementation, the hemoglobin level in both group increased significantly. The average change of hemoglobin between the 2 groups gave no significant difference. W/A and H/A after iron supplementation showed significantly increased in both groups. The average change of W/A and H/A between the 2 groups gave no significant difference.

Conclusion: Daily and weekly iron supplementation showed no significant difference in increasing of hemoglobin level and physical growth. Further research must be done with appropriate sample size and well design.