Iron deficiency anemia remains a common cause of anemia in young children. The term iron deficiency without anemia, or the so-called latent iron deficiency, has become increasingly significant as it is not only difficult to identify this condition in non-anemic children, but it also adversely affects neurocognitive development, and unfortunately, some of these effects may be irreversible and not respond to treatment. This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate iron status in 68 apparently healthy, non-anemic Egyptian children aged 1–6 years. They were subjected to detailed history-taking, physical examination, complete blood count, and tests for serum iron, total iron binding capacity, serum ferritin, and transferrin saturation. Low serum ferritin level and low transferrin saturation were detected in 41.2% and 47% of the children, respectively. Iron deficiency parameters were significantly affected among toddlers aged “1” to “3” years compared with preschool children, and boys were found to be more affected than girls of the same age group. A normal hemoglobin level does not exclude iron deficiency, which should be screened in healthy children to prevent the possible long-term effects of iron deficiency on their cognition and mental development.

中文翻译：

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学龄前非贫血埃及儿童缺铁

缺铁性贫血仍然是幼儿贫血的常见原因。没有贫血的缺铁或所谓的潜伏缺铁这一术语变得越来越重要，因为在非贫血儿童中不仅难以识别这种情况，而且还会对神经认知发育产生不利影响，不幸的是，其中一些影响可能是不可逆的，对治疗没有反应。这项横断面研究旨在评估 68 名 1-6 岁的埃及儿童的铁状况，该儿童看起来很健康、无贫血。他们接受了详细的病史采集、体格检查、全血细胞计数以及血清铁、总铁结合力、血清铁蛋白和转铁蛋白饱和度的测试。在 41.2% 和 47% 的儿童中检测到低血清铁蛋白水平和低转铁蛋白饱和度，分别。与学龄前儿童相比，“1”至“3”岁幼儿的缺铁参数受到显着影响，并且发现男孩比同龄组的女孩受到的影响更大。正常的血红蛋白水平并不排除缺铁，应该在健康儿童中进行筛查，以防止缺铁对其认知和智力发育可能产生的长期影响。