Effect of weekly rice fortification with iron on anemia prevalence and hemoglobin concentration among children attending public daycare centers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Abstract

This was a double-blind, placebo-controlled, community-based trial. For 16 weeks, children in the intervention group (n = 180) received iron-fortified rice, while children in the control group (n = 174) received rice with placebo. Anemia was defined as hemoglobin < 11.0g/dL. Student's t-test was used to compare mean variation in hemoglobin between the groups. Hemoglobin concentration improved in both groups, with a mean increase of 0.42g/ dL in the intervention group (11.28±1.23g/dL to 11.75±1.16g/dL, p < 0.001), and 0.49g/dL in controls (11.06±1.13g/dL to 11.51±1.16g/ dL, p < 0.001). Anemia decreased (p < 0.01) in both groups (37.8% to 23.3% in the intervention group and 45.4% to 33.3% in controls), with no significant difference between the two. Hemoglobin increase was significantly higher in children that received total iron = 53.76mg from fortified rice, compared to those who received less than this cut-off value (0.94g/dl vs. 0.39g/dl, p = 0.03). The findings suggest that this type of intervention can be useful in anemia control as long as fortified food intake is adequate.