Dear all:

I agree with four out of the five points that Karen Gromada makes about iron supplements and questions and her conclusions. 

I do disagree with the ability to test for iron sufficiency.  It is NOT easy to test for iron sufficiency.  The finger stick (or heel stick) method is NOT adequate for testing iron sufficiency.  It tests anemia.  Again, I want to make it clear that there is a body of evidence to substantiate that iron deficiency (even before anemia occurs) interferes with cognitive development.  You would need to sample venous blood which is not really something I would think would be warranted among young infants.   Nevertheless, this still does not invalidate her conclusions one iota.

At the same time, I am completely unaware of any evidence to suggest that full term babies would suddenly -- out of the blue -- change so dramatically that they would use up their iron stores by four months rather than the six months that was generally accepted among nutritional scientists.  Could it be all the surgical deliveries have shifted the population so much toward premature deliveries?  Still, I think it unlikely.  I guess I should do some reading on the studies they used to form this conclusion and find out whether the CDC is in lockstep or disagrees.

Best, Susan Burger

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