Ferrous sulfate plus folic acid for treating anemia in young children
What it found
Adding folic acid to ferrous sulfate drops lowered anemia from about 35% to 14% in young children.
The combination also raised blood protein levels in children who were not anemic.
What they found
Studies in people
Treating anemia in children
Among children who already had anemia, those getting ferrous sulfate plus folic acid saw their anemia rate drop to 14%. Children getting ferrous sulfate with a dummy liquid stayed anemic at a rate of 34.9%.
Preventing anemia in children
For children without anemia at the start, the number who developed it was about the same whether they got folic acid or the dummy liquid alongside their ferrous sulfate.
Hemoglobin levels rose
Children without anemia who took ferrous sulfate plus folic acid saw their hemoglobin go up. Those taking ferrous sulfate with the dummy liquid did not show this rise.
Folic acid blood levels
After the three months, children who received the real folic acid had higher levels of it in their blood compared to those who got the dummy liquid.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that giving ferrous sulfate together with folic acid reduced anemia more effectively than ferrous sulfate alone in these young children.
- They advise that daycare centers are a practical place to run this kind of supplement program because staff can give the drops directly.
- The authors recommend ongoing nutrition checks and anemia monitoring for children in these programs.
How it was done
Iron shortage is the most common nutrition problem worldwide and can affect how children grow, think, and fight illness. Scientists wanted to see if adding folic acid to iron drops worked better than iron alone for treating and preventing anemia in young children.
Researchers studied 196 children aged 6 to 24 months at daycare centers in Brazil. All children received ferrous sulfate drops five days a week for about three months. Half also got folic acid drops while the other half got a dummy liquid instead.
What it can’t tell you
- This trial only tested children aged 6 to 24 months in Brazilian daycare centers, so the results may not apply to older children or adults.
- Because every child received ferrous sulfate, the study cannot show what folic acid would do on its own without iron.
The paper
- Title
- Treatment and prevention of anemia with ferrous sulfate plus folic acid in children attending daycare centers in Goiânia, Goiás State, Brazil: a randomized controlled trial
- Type
- Randomised controlled trial
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Hadler MC, Sigulem DM, Alves Mde F, Torres VM (2008). Treatment and prevention of anemia with ferrous sulfate plus folic acid in children attending daycare centers in Goiânia, Goiás State, Brazil: a randomized controlled trial. Cadernos de saude publica. doi:10.1590/s0102-311x2008001400011Free full textPubMed 18670706DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error