Iron deficiency anemia is the principal nutritional dearth in the world, and it especially affects children and pregnant women in developing countries. This paper presents a survey of the literature in this area, with the aim of providing a brief overview regarding the occurrence of iron deficiency anemia in Brazil. The article describes the etiology of the disease, the risk groups, the high prevalence of anemia in several areas of Brazil, and also the consequences of iron deficiency in children. The paper also shows some ways to control iron deficiency anemia and some intervention programs applied in Brazilian cities for curing and/or preventing this disease. The article concludes by emphasizing the need to establish strategies and treatments in our country that are based on a policy that brings together not only governmental administration but also all the community.

CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Low compliance among mothers regarding the treatment of anemic children using daily doses of ferrous sulfate administered at home has been reported. This study aimed to establish the effectiveness of weekly doses administered by mothers at home compared with weekly supplements administered directly by healthcare professionals, to reduce the prevalence of anemia. DESIGN AND SETTING: This was a randomized clinical trial at a public healthcare clinic in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. METHODS: This iron supplementation study was carried out using two intervention groups. The sample population was 130 infants, randomly allocated to two groups of 65 children. All of them received 12 weekly doses of 25 mg of elemental iron, administered either in the public healthcare clinic or at their homes. RESULTS: Treatment compliance was shown in both groups. The prevalence of anemia among all of the children was 75% at the beginning of supplementation and 46.3% at the end of the period (P < 0.0005), corresponding to a reduction in the number of anemic children of 38.3%. The average increases in hemoglobin concentration levels were 0.75 g/dl and 0.65 g/dl, respectively for home interventions and healthcare clinic administration (P < 0.00005). CONCLUSION: Weekly supplementation of 25 mg of iron was proven to be efficient in reducing anemia, using interventions both at home and in healthcare clinics. Compliance among the mothers was achieved because weekly supplementation was easy to administer and had few side effects. The results showed that the treatment presented low cost and fast benefits.

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