THE ETIOLOGICAL FACTORS OF IRON-DEFICIENCY ANEMIA IN INFANTS AND

YOUNG CHILDREN

Ionel Alexandra-Madalina, Ruta Florina, Voidazan Septimiu, Chincesan Ioana-Mihaela

UMF Targu-Mures

Background: Iron-deficiency anemia(IDA)is anemia due to not having enough iron in your
body and it is associated with a decreased amount of red blood cells (RBCs) or hemoglobin in
the blood. Being one of the most common hematologic disease of infancy and childhood, it is
estimated that worldwide 2 billion people are anemic, many due to iron deficiency.

Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the etiological factors of IDA in infants and
young children, moreover the non-medical factors (cow milk intake, nourishment mistakes
and others), that expose these pacients and that can be prevented.

Material and methods: We performed a cross-sectional study on 54 children age between 2-

36 months, that were hospitalized in the Pediatrics Clinic 1, Targu Mures, between July 2015
and February 2016. The data was collected with the help of a questionnaire, containing 28
questions that targeted mothers anemia during pregnancy, breast feeding period, cow milk
consumption and other nutritional factors. The data obtained from this group was statistically
evaluated using the SPSS program.

Results: 56.6% of the patients that we studied were boys and 43.4% were girls. 50.9% of the
patients live on the countryside and the rest of 49.1% live in urban settlements. Only 7.5% of
the subjects were fed breast milk for 12 months and 3.8% for 24 months. 35.8% of mothers
selected cow milk as an alternative to breastfeeding and only 18.9% use special milk formula
for infants. The use of excessive cow milk(more than 500 ml/day) was found in most children.
Concerning iron-deficiency anemia during pregnancy, we found out that 43.3% of mothers
had anemia.

Conclusions: Ultimately, a diet that is rich in cow milk, insufficient breastfeeding and
mothers anemia during pregnancy are the most important etiological factors of iron-
deficiency anemia in infants and young children.

Keywords: iron-deficiency, anemia, children, etiology