One cost-effective strategy for controlling iron deficiency is the fortification of staple foods or condiments with iron. We evaluated the effectiveness of fortifying fish sauce with NaFeEDTA for improving iron status in women of childbearing age in Vietnam in a double-blind intervention with randomization by village. All families in the selected villages were supplied with fish sauce that was ...

Anemia and iron deficiency should receive special attention considering their high prevalence and serious consequences. For prevention, globally it is recommended to increase dietary iron intake, iron fortification of industrialized foods, and medical iron supplementation. Food fortification for the prevention of iron deficiency in developing countries should consider carriers locally available...

BACKGROUND Food fortification is one approach for addressing anemia, but information on program effectiveness is limited. OBJECTIVE We evaluated the impact of Costa Rica's fortification program on anemia in women aged 15-45 y and children aged 1-7 y. DESIGN Reduced iron, an ineffective fortificant, was replaced by ferrous fumarate in wheat flour in 2002, and ferrous bisglycinate was added t...

Anemia is common among children in sub-Saharan Africa and its etiology is multifactorial. Likely causes of anemia are low bioavailability of dietary iron, malaria, and helminth infection. In this study, we aimed to assess the effect of iron fortification, intermittent preventive treatment (IPT) of malaria, and anthelmintic treatment on hemoglobin concentration and anemia prevalence among school...

OBJECTIVE To determine if the fortification of wheat and maize flours with iron and folic acid - which became mandatory in Brazil from June 2004 - is effective in the prevention of neural tube defects. METHODS Using data from national information systems on births in central, south-eastern and southern Brazil, we determined the prevalence of neural tube defects among live births and stillbirt...

Background: As it is difficult to know the content of iron added in the Brazilian iron fortification of wheat and corn flour, and if the compound has good or poor bioavailability, the objective was to assess the effect of the Brazilian iron fortification program, as it was carried out, on iron nutritional status of adolescents, 6 years after its implementation. Methods: A cross-sectional retros...

On a global basic, an estimated 2 billion people are iron deficient or anaemic with small children and child bearing age women most likely to be affected. In Brazil a recent 2009 meta-analysis of anaemia considered it to be a serious public health problem affecting 53% of children under 5 years. Fortification and supplementation of food can make and important contribution to the reduction of ir...

Despite global goals set by United Nations' agencies over the past decade for significant reductions in iron deficiency anemia (IDA), it remains a largely unaddressed public health problem affecting more than two billion people, one-third of the world's population. The negative impact of IDA on health and human potential are greatest in the developing world, where it is estimated that 51% of ch...

background: micronutrient deficiency is one of the major public health problems in the middle east affecting economic, political and social development of countries. the three commonest micronutrient deficiencies belong to iron, iodine and vitamin a.  methods: we conducted a systematic review of published english articles in the middle east countries using databases from pubmed, world health or...

The potential impact of wheat flour fortification with iron and folic acid was assessed using data about food purchases from the nationally representative 2000 Guatemalan Living Standards Measurement Survey. Of 7265 households, 35% were indigenous and 57% rural; 11% were extremely poor, 35% were poor, and 54% were nonpoor. The percentage of households that purchased wheat flour, sweet bread, Fr...