-- Nathan Newman
June 4, 2001 Iron Deficiency, Low Scores Linked
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 5:01 p.m. ET
CHICAGO (AP) -- New research linking even mild iron deficiency with low test scores could help explain why teen-age girls tend to do worse than boys in math.
The study found that compared with children with normal iron levels, iron-deficient youngsters were more than twice as likely to score below average on a standardized math test. The increased risk was found even in iron-deficient children who had not developed anemia.
The difference in performance was most striking in adolescent girls, who also had the highest prevalence of iron deficiency.
The study was led by Dr. Jill Halterman of the University of Rochester and was published in the June issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Iron deficiency, sometimes due to blood loss or diets low in iron, is the most common cause of anemia. Adolescent girls are especially prone to iron deficiency because of their monthly blood loss from menstruation.
Previous research has linked iron-deficiency anemia with lower developmental test scores in young children, but there is less information on older children and on iron deficiency without anemia.
``Past studies have shown a superiority of females in math achievement during elementary and middle school years and a reversal of this trend with male superiority ... in high school and college years,'' the researchers said. ``This study suggests that iron deficiency may contribute to this gender discrepancy by negatively affecting math performance among adolescent girls.''
The study involved nationally representative data on 5,398 children ages 6 to 16 who participated in a health survey from 1988 to 1994.
Iron deficiency was found in 3 percent of the children overall, representing 1.2 million school-age children. It occurred in 8.7 percent of the girls ages 12 to 16, including 7 percent without anemia.
Average math scores for iron-deficient children with or without anemia were about six points lower than those with normal iron levels. Among adolescent girls, the difference in scores was more than eight points.
The average math score for normal youngsters was 93.7, 87.4 for iron-deficient children without anemia and 86.4 for those with anemia. The highest score recorded was 151.
Anemia, whose symptoms can include fatigue and paleness, can be diagnosed with a simple blood test. But youngsters are not routinely screened for less severe iron deficiencies.
The findings suggest that giving girls more iron could improve their math performance, Halterman said. She stressed, however, that the findings are preliminary and need to be reproduced in other studies.
Dr. Gilman Grave, chief of endocrinology, nutrition and growth at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said the study is ``quite significant'' and corroborates earlier research. He added: ``We should pay attention to it.''
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