Iron Status and Cognitive Function in Children Aged 1 Month to 5 Years

 To our knowledge in our country not many studies have been done regarding the iron status and cognitive function in children. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between serum iron levels and cognitive function in children aged 1 month to 5 years in our institution.

 This study was conducted for 18 months in the pediatric population of a tertiary care hospital in Mysore, India, after obtaining approval from the Ethics Committee of the institution. A total of 255 subjects aged between 1 month and 5 years were selected as per the eligibility criteria. From these children, a venous blood sample was sent for determination of iron levels and total iron binding capacity. Cognitive abilities were assessed using the age-appropriate Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ -3).

 The mean age of the study population was 22.87±14.83 months and the male-to-female ratio was 1.7:1. Totally, 230 out of 255 children were iron deficient (90.2%), 91.3% boys and 88.3 % girls. Anemia was found in 55.7% of the children, with 94.3% of those with anemia suffering from ID. ID was found to have a negative significant effect on fine motor skills (p < 0.0001) and problem-solving ability (p=0.01). Gross motor skills were significantly impaired by ID (p<0.0001).

 This study re-emphasizes that ID and IDA have a negative impact on cognitive development and performance, with more severe effects in the last stage of ID –IDA.