Screening for Iron Deficiency in Early Childhood Using Serum Ferritin

Introduction: The iron deficiency is an important public health problem widely prevalent in the early childhood period. Iron is very important for various body processes like monoamine metabolism, synthesis of myelin, and metabolic function of the brain. It has many detrimental effects on the cognition, emotional, social, and motor development.‍ Serum ferritin is an easily available, non invasive, inexpensive with high specificity for iron deficiency.

Aim: The present study was conducted with the aim to estimate the levels of hemoglobin and serum ferritin in young children in the age group of 1-5 years irrespective of their sex.

Materials and Methods: Laboratory data of serum ferritin and hemoglobin levels were prospectively collected of apparently healthy children, 1 to 5 years of age coming to Pediatrics OPD of Acharya Shri Chander College of Medical Sciences, Jammu. The ferritin levels were estimated in roche chemiluminescent immunoassay. The haemoglobin levels were estimated. Children with serum ferritin level < 12 µg/L was considered as deficiency. The statistical analysis was conducted using SPSS version 20.

Results: A total of 100 children, 1 to 5 years of age were enrolled in the study. The mean hemoglobin level in children is 12.2gm%. The mean serum ferritin level in children is 29.2µg/L. In our study, it was observed that the mean Hb levels are higher in the reference age group, than decreases in the 2-3 year age group and then again increases in the 3-5 years age group. It was further observed that the serum ferritin levels were higher in the reference age group and then decreases in the 2-3 year age group. The serum ferritin levels further rises in the 3-4 years, 4-5 years age group.

Conclusion: In our study, it was observed that serum ferritin is a more reliable test than hemoglobin for screening iron deficiency in early childhood. The most favorable age group for screening for iron deficiency appears to be 2 to 3 years of age in which maximum number of children with iron deficiency was observed, but other associated conditions should also be kept in mind.