On a global base, estimated 2 billion people are iron deficient and/or anemic with small children and child bearing age most likely to be the ones affected. These high levels of world anemia prevalence have been maintained and even growing in spite of the global and national food fortification programmes carried out in several places. These have been based on the iron fortification of local foo...

Although there has been a remarkable decline in the proportion of malnourished children in Latin America, micronutrient deficiencies, especially iron deficiency anemia, remain significant public health problems. A substantial reduction in the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia is an important goal for the end of the decade. Interest in fortifying wheat flour and dry-milled maize flour is thus...

Poor micronutrient intakes are a major contributing factor to the high burden of micronutrient deficiencies in Côte d'Ivoire. Large-scale food fortification is considered a cost-effective approach to deliver micronutrients, and fortification of salt (iodine), wheat flour (iron and folic acid), and vegetable oil (vitamin A) is mandatory in Côte d'Ivoire. A cross-sectional survey on households wi...

OBJECTIVES We conducted a review of effectiveness of preventive treatments of iron deficiency anaemia in pregnancy in developing countries and highlighted their constraints as well as interventions required to strengthen the health services. Methods. Literature from Pubmed (MEDLINE), AJOL, Google Scholar, and Cochrane database was reviewed. RESULTS Evidence-based preventive treatment options ...

In Venezuela, a severe economic crisis starting in 1983 provoked a progressive reduction in the quantity and quality of food consumed by people from the low socioeconomic strata of the population. This situation resulted in a continuous increase in the prevalence of iron deficiency in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1993, an iron-fortification program was started, in which precooked corn and white whea...

OBJECTIVE To assess the level of hemoglobin-Hb during pregnancy before and after fortification of flours with iron. METHOD A cross-sectional study with data from 12,119 pregnant women attended at a public prenatal from five macro regions of Brazil. The sample was divided into two groups: Before-fortification (birth before June/2004) and After-fortification (last menstruation after June/2005)....

This review considers the safety of iron supplementation and fortification for the prevention and correction of iron deficiency in malaria-endemic areas, with a focus on potential means whereby provision of additional iron might heighten the risks of malaria and other infections. Iron deficiency itself may increase the risk of morbidity and mortality from malaria and other infections. The avail...

OBJECTIVE Iron fortification of flour has been sanctioned by the Brazilian government since 2004. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of flour fortification on hemoglobin level in children under six. METHODS A time-series study was carried out in Pelotas, southern Brazil, consisting of three assessments at a 12-month interval. In May 2004, before flour fortification, hemoglobi...