The potential effect of iron defortification on iron-deficiency anaemia in the US population

Abstract

Objective: To quantify the potential effect of iron defortification in the USA on iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA). Methods: Monte Carlo models were built to simulate iron nutrition in the US population. A hypothetical cohort of 15000 persons from the general population was used in 15-year simulations to compare the prevalence of IDA with and without fortification. Results: With iron fortification, the prevalence of IDA was 2.4% for children aged 3-5 years, 5.4% for women aged 20-49 years, and 0.14% for men aged 20-49 years. The corresponding IDA estimates under iron defortification were 4.5%, 8.2% and 0.46%, respectively. Defortification had little effect on the distribution of iron indicators at or above the 50th percentile within each of these three groups and little effect on the distributions of iron indicators among adult men. Conclusion: Iron defortification is likely to increase IDA among children and women of reproductive age, but is not likely to have meaningful effects on the iron status of men or the majority of women and children. © 2007 The Authors.