Elsevier

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 91, Issue 6, December 1977, Pages 878-883
The Journal of Pediatrics

Original article
At what age does iron supplementation become necessary in low-birth-weight infants?

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3476(77)80881-0Get rights and content

Prevention of iron deficiency in low-birth-weight infants requires iron supplementation before neonatal iron stores are exhausted. In order to accurately determine when this depletion occurs, we measured the hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume, serum iron/iron-binding capacity, and serum ferritin in 117 low-birth-weight infants (1,000 to 2,000 gm) from 0.5 until 6 months of age. All infants received banked breast milk in the hospital and breast milk or cow milk formula later; those with odd birth dates received 2 mg iron as ferrous sulfate/kg/day starting at 0.5 months; those with even birth dates received no additional iron unless they developed anemia. The results indicate that low-birth-weight infants who receive no supplemental iron may develop iron deficiency by three months of age and that a dose of iron of 2 mg/kg/day started at two weeks of age prevents iron deficiency without providing an unnecessary excess.

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Supported by grants from the Foundation for Pediatric Research in Finland and by National Institutes of Health Grant No. AM HD 13897 and National Foundation, March of Dimes Grant No. 6–81.

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