Effects of iron supplementation in nonanemic pregnant women, infants, and young children on the mental performance and psychomotor development of children: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Study answer

What this study found

Overall, iron supplementation showed a possible benefit for infant psychomotor development but not for mental development, and prenatal supplementation did not improve child IQ or behavior. In pooled infant analyses at about 12 months, mental development was not significantly different (WMD 1.66; 95% CI, -0.14 to 3.47), whereas psychomotor development favored iron (WMD 4.21; 95% CI, 2.31 to 6.12; n = 561 across 3 RCTs). In one prenatal trial, abnormal behavior was more common in the iron group (RR 1.97; 95% CI, 1.03 to 3.80; P = 0.037), while another found no significant behavior or…

Study & population

Systematic review of randomized controlled trials in nonanemic pregnant women and nonanemic healthy infants and young children up to 3 years of age.

Intervention

Iron supplementation was evaluated in several RCTs using different oral regimens, including ferrous sulfate 7.5 mg/d, ferrous sulfate 10 mg/d, iron-fortified formula (12.8 mg/L, 1.2 mg/L, or 0.9-1.1 mg/L comparator formulas), and prenatal iron 20 mg/d.

Key limitation

The evidence base was small and heterogeneous, with different iron forms, doses, ages, and outcome measures across trials.

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Original abstract