Hematological Indices in Children with Non-organic Failure to Thrive: a Case-Control Study

Non-organic failure to thrive (NFTT) is the most common cause of failure to thrive (FTT) which is attributed to inadequate nutrition due to economic factors or parental neglect . NFTT can lead to a vicious cycle of poor and inadequate eating and severity of anemia. The aim of this study was to determine the hematological indices in children with NFTT.

In a cross sectional case control study, iron status and blood indices of forty five aged 6-60 months children with NFTT were evaluated and compared with 45 healthy control children (with matching of age and sex).

In this study, the prevalence of anemia was 48.9% in NFTT compared to 11.4% in the control group (p<0.001). Microcytic anemia was significantly more prevalent among the subjects than the controls (77.8% versus 27.3%; p<0. 001). The serum iron level was 73.2 and 62.8 mcg/dl for the case and control groups (P=0.29). The ferritin level in the study group was 29.8 versus 35.47 ng/ml in the control group (p=0.227). The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among children with mild, moderate, and severe underweight was 44.4%, 45.5%, and 48%, respectively. The highest prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia was seen between age group of 12 and 24 months (p<0.05).

Based on the results of this study, a correlation between malnutrition and anemia was found. However, further studies are needed to assess and confirm the current outcomes.