Efeito da fortificação semanal do arroz com ferro quelato sobre a freqüência de anemia e concentração de hemoglobina em crianças de creches municipais do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 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

Trata-se de um ensaio clínico comunitário, duplo-cego, controlado por placebo. Durante 16 semanas, as crianças do grupo intervenção (GI, n = 180) receberam arroz fortificado com ferro, e as do grupo controle (GC, n = 174) receberam arroz com placebo. Considerou-se presença de anemia quando hemoglobina 53,76mg pelo arroz fortificado tiveram maior aumento na hemoglobina do que aquelas que receberam quantidades inferiores (0,94g/dL vs. 0,39g/dL; p = 0,03). Sugere-se que esse tipo de intervenção pode ser útil no controle da anemia quando o consumo do alimento fortificado é adequado.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.

Keywords

• Anemia Ferropriva
• Alimentos Fortificados
• Ferro
• Pré-Escolar
• Iron-Deficiency Anemia
• Fortified Food
• Iron
• Preschool Children