Background. Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in young children is important to identify because of its adverse effects on behavior and development. Because of costs and inconvenience associated with blood test screening and the decline in prevalence of IDA, the Institute of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that blood test screening for IDA be targeted to children first identified by dietary and health history.

Objective. To evaluate a parent-completed dietary and health history as the first stage of 2-stage screening for IDA.

Design and Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in inner-city clinics in children 9 to 30 months old having routine ...

<37 wk)  5  17 
Hospital stay><2 servings 3  19 
 iron fortified cereal/d at 9 mo 
Started cow milk before   0  22 
  1 y of age 
  Toddler beverage intake domain 20   2><37 wk)  54 206 
Hospital stay><2 servings  6 254 
 iron fortified cereal/d at 9 mo 
Started cow milk before   18 242 
  1 y of age 
  Toddler beverage intake domain 224  36><37 wk)  --  -- 
Hospital stay><2 servings --  -- 
 iron fortified cereal/d at 9 mo 
Started cow milk before 1 y of age--  -- 
  Toddler beverage intake domain  91  14>