Effects of an energy and micronutrient supplement on iron deficiency anemia, physical activity and motor and mental development in undernourished children in Indonesia.

What Was Tested

Researchers studied Micronutrients in the context of anemia in this randomized controlled trial publication.

This paper reports the effects of an energy and micronutrient supplementation on mental and motor development, activity and behavior under natural conditions of children classified as iron deficient anemic and iron replete.

Who Took Part

The age groups tagged for this paper are infants, both men and women.

Hemoglobin, ferritin, transferrin saturation and erythrocyte protoporphyrin were evaluated before and 6 months after treatment.

The following psychological measurements were obtained at baseline and 2, 4 and 6 months later.

How the Study Was Run

The design is described as randomized.

The participants were allocated by chance, so the Micronutrients group and the comparison group should start out alike.

The sites were six tea plantations in Pangalengan, West Java.

Mental and motor development was evaluated with the Bayley Scale.

Motor activity was measured by 4 h continuous observations at home and at day care centers.

The interactions between the child and its social and physical environment were also evaluated during 4 h of observations.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Anemia, Iron-Deficiency, Brain, Child Development, Cognition, Cohort Studies, Dietary Supplements and Energy Intake.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized study of Micronutrients in people with anemia.

Results are reported in around 2 sentences of the abstract; we leave them to the paper itself rather than summarise them.

The publication is from 2000 (European journal of clinical nutrition), a journal based in England.

More context: Anemia research.