Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anemia in children and its association with Dietary patterns

Anemia is a serious global public health problem that mostly affects children under the age of six. It strongly impacts their behavior, psychomotor development, and cognitive abilities. The immune system & its defenses are also impacted on physical development. This study is strongly contributing to assess and enroll clinical findings for iron deficiency anemia in children and assessing the association of children's iron deficiency anemia association with dietary patterns. Our study was assessed clinical outcomes of children who suffer from iron deficiency anemia. Due to that, we collected medical records of children from Baghdad, Iraq hospitals during follow-up, ranging from March 2024 to March 2025. Our study conducted a comparative for 106 samples, where the first group shows 56 children with iron deficiency anemia and second group includes 50 children without iron deficiency anemia.

Furthermore, we enrolled clinical data of children in both groups, including hematological profiles and dietary patterns. Also, we determined the extend of association between iron deficiency anemia and dietary patterns. Based on collected clinical data, we noted a low in hemoglobin, serum ferritin, and serum iron in a group of children with iron deficiency anemia in comparison with children without iron deficiency anemia [(9.1 ± 0.8 g/dL),  (8.5 ± 3.2 ng/mL), and (28.5 ± 10.1 μg/dL). Also, we defined the risk factors of children with iron deficiency anemia including excessive cow's milk, rare/never consumption of meat, and rare/never consumption of Vitamin C-rich foods. According to the association between iron deficiency anemia in children and dietary patterns, we found that tea consumption with meals and lack of iron-fortified formula had a significantly impact on iron deficiency anemia. Our study shows that poor eating habits had highly impact in children with iron deficiency anemia, where it public health initiatives and parent education should place a strong emphasis on the value for a balanced diet, iron supplements, and minimizing cow's milk consumption in early life.