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 William J. Klish, M.D., is Professor of Pediatrics, Head of Pediatric
Gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine and Chief of the Nutrition
and Gastroenterology Department at Texas Children's Hospital in Houston.
Dr. Klish has served as chair of the Committee on Nutrition of the American
Academy of Pediatrics.
Q: My 9-month-old's hemoglobin is low. He's on an iron supplement. I have a tendency to be anemic and wonder if this can be a genetic problem.
A: Iron deficiency is not an uncommon problem in infants. During intrauterine development, infants store iron obtained from their mother. At about 6 months of age this iron is depleted, so if the infant is not given adequate iron in his diet, deficiency develops. Iron is present in iron-supplemented infant cereal, certain solid foods such as strained meats, and infant formulas containing iron. If whole cows milk is fed under 1 year of age, it not only does not contain adequate iron but causes iron loss by irritating the intestine and causing an increase in intestinal blood loss.
The iron in human milk is very efficiently absorbed, but since it is present in only small amounts, breast-fed infants need supplementary food sources of iron after 6 months of age. Genetic problems that lead to anemia do exist. If your infant does not respond to iron supplements after three or four weeks, he may need further evaluation.
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