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The Iron Requirement of Children of the Early School Age

Department of Home Economics and Household Administration, and Department of Pediatrics, The University of Chicago, Illinois

The purpose of this study was to find the iron requirement of children of the early school age. This was to be accomplished by finding the lowest iron intake which would support a good hemoglobin level.

Hemoglobin determinations were made on twenty-one children 8 to 11 years of age. Of these, nineteen had hemoglobin levels of 12–14 gm., the range considered normal.

The iron intakes were found by making a chemical analysis of the diet of each child over a 2-week period. An examination of the intakes indicated that good hemoglobin levels could be maintained on 11.4 mg. per day or 0.35 mg. per kilogram when the rest of the diet was adequate.

That a higher intake was not needed was shown by the fact that the hemoglobins of children given 2 or 4 mg. of iron daily over a 7-month period did not rise. It is possible, also, that lower intakes, had they been tried, might have been found to serve just as well.