[Mother-child interaction and child behavior in preschool children with a history of iron-deficiency anemia in infancy].

Iron deficiency anemia is a highly prevalent nutritional disorder. Research in the last two decades shows that if this nutritional disorder occurs during the first two years of life it is associated with poor psychomotor performance and changes in behavior, such as reduced levels of responsitivy to persons and stimuli, irritability and inhibition. Further studies demonstrate that effects observed during infancy persist in the long term; preschool children who were anemic at twelve months show lower cognitive and motor scores than control children with normal iron nutritional status. In the study we evaluated 35 preschool children with an average age of 5 years and 6 months, 20 were anemic at one year and 15 had normal iron status. Behavior characteristics of the child and the mother-child interaction patterns were analyzed. All children participated in a semistructured play and teaching task trial which was filmed and later codified through a specially designed guideline. Results suggest that formerly anemic preschool children are less active, more inhibited and timid than the corresponding controls. Mothers of children with normal iron status during infancy are more responsive, having a rich two-way interaction with their sons, while mother of preschool children who were anemic are more frequently restricted to a response to the child. Although findings are not conclusive, they may direct future studies designed to clarify the complex relationship between anemia and behavior.