Iron deficiency is the world's most common preventable nutritional problem.
It has largely been eradicated from developed countries, but more than 750 million children in the developing world have iron-deficiency anemia.
According to a January 24 press release from the Public Library of Science (PLoS), researchers at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, a simple sachet called Sprinkles could be the key to eradicating such anemia.
In developing countries, the standard strategy for controlling iron-deficiency anemia is to use an iron supplement (ferrous sulphate) given to children as syrup.
Sprinkles -- sachets containing microencapsulated iron and other micronutrients as a powder that is sprinkled on food - has no such side effects.
When tested in clinical trials in Bangladesh and Ghana, mothers surveyed found the treatment acceptable.
According to an article by researchers at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada, published in this month's issue of the open access global health journal PLoS Medicine, a simple sachet called "Sprinkles" could be the key to eradicating this type of anemia.
In developing countries, the standard strategy to try and control iron-deficiency anemia is the use of an iron supplement (ferrous sulphate) given to children as a syrup.
But children often find the treatment hard to take, since it has an unpleasant metallic aftertaste, it leaves a dark stain on their teeth, and it can give them abdominal discomfort.
In contrast, Sprinkles -- sachets containing microencapsulated iron and other micronutrients as a powder that is sprinkled onto foods -- avoids these side effects.
When it was tested in clinical trials in Bangladesh and Ghana, all of the mothers surveyed found the treatment acceptable.
In the article, Stanley H. Zlotkin and colleagues summarize the results of seven community-based trials of using Sprinkles in four different countries.