Prevalence of iron deficiency in children aged 9-24 mo from a large urban area of Argentina.

Argentina has been largely considered as having an adequate diet in terms of iron availability. However, children aged 9-24 mo do not meet requirements from their regular diet. The aim of this study was to assess the incidence of iron deficiency in a representative sample of children living in Greater Buenos Aires. Hematologic indicators were measured in venous blood from 384 children. Weighted incidence of anemia was 46.7%. Mean corpuscular volume was less than 73 fL in 28.2% of subjects, free erythrocyte protoporphyrin was greater than 1.77 mumol/L erythrocytes in 57.1%, and serum ferritin was less than 12 micrograms/L in 60.2%.incidence of two or three abnormal values for iron status indicators was 46.1%. This extremely high incidence of anemia is associated with low iron intakes (5.6 +/- 3.5 mg/d means +/- SD), early introduction of cow milk, and low consumption of iron-fortified foods and iron supplements.