Screening for Iron Deficiency

The diagnosis and prevention of iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia are extremely important to children’s health, as outlined in the 2010 statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Nutrition.¹  Given that Pediatrics is the official journal of the AAP and contains the policy statements of this organization and its committees, it is surprising that the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) Recommendation Statement²  appears in the journal without comment from the AAP Committee on Nutrition (CON). This statement is even more confusing because the recommendations of the USPSTF disagree with the AAP CON¹  and the AAP Bright Futures recommendations.³  In the CON report, universal screening for anemia is recommended at ∼12 months of age with a hemoglobin concentration and assessment of risk factors. Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency and is seen most frequently in young children and pregnant women....