Panelas de ferro para o tratamento da anemia por deficiência de ferro: há evidências suficientes?

Abstract

Iron deficiency anemia is due to insufficient iron in the body, leading to decreased hemoglobin concentration and reduced average volume and size of red blood cells, as well as functionality decrease. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing accessible and easy to implement interventions to control the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia, given the magnitude of this nutritional deficiency. This study aimed to review the effects of food preparation in iron cooking pots on hemoglobin concentrations and anemia prevalence. The search strategy was formulated in PubMed, which used the following terms present in the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) and keywords with the Boolean operators “AND”, “OR” and “AND NOT”: Anemia; Hemoglobins; Iron Deficiency; Iron Pots; Nutrition. The search was not restricted by language or date of publication, and after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria 7 articles were selected. This review highlights the results of the main published clinical trials on the effects of food preparation in cast iron pots on hemoglobin concentrations and anemia prevalence rates, and their acceptability for cooking. It was verified that cooking in iron pots increased hemoglobin concentrations in children up to 5 years of age. In communities with high anemia prevalence rates, where other iron supplementation or fortification programs are likely to be impractical, cooking in iron pots can provide a simple, useful, and economical strategy to fight iron deficiency anemia.