Deficiencia de hierro en el embarazo y en la infancia

Abstract

Pregnancy and infancy are the most critical physiological stages for iron nutrition. During the third trimester of pregnancy the daily iron requirement is from 0.7 to 0.8 mg; during the first year of life the daily requirement is from 0.9 to 1 mg. Since no natural unsupplemented diet could be expected to provide iron in such large amounts, it would seem that these requirements should be met from individuals iron stores or from supplementation. As a rule, however, adequate iron stores are uncommon in females of reproductive age, and, consequently, the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia in pregnant women is generally high, though its frequency varies from region to region, and even within a region, where it bears a relationship to the socioeconomic status and the eating habits of the population. Thus, definite anemia (hemoglobin below 10 mg/100 ml) has been observed in 40 to 50 per cent of the pregnant women in certain population of India and Trinidad, but in only 0 and 2 per cent of Australian and Bantu women. In studies of several groups of pregnant women living in poor socioeconomic conditions, anemia (hemoglobin below 12 mg) has been found in 19 to 36 per cent and iron deficiency (saturation index below 15 per cent) in 21 to 64.5 per cent

Information is lacking on the subject of iron stores and the ...(AU)

Publicado en inglés en Publicación Científica de la OPS 184(65-71)