WHO sponsored collaborative studies on nutritional anaemia in India

Abstract

1. A study was conducted in two centres in southern and northern India of the effects of the addition of ascorbic acid and protein supplements to iron, pteroylglutamic acid and cyanocobalamin, in the prophylaxis and treatment of anaemia of pregnancy.2. A dose of 500 mg ascorbic acid/d had no beneficial effect. Women who received 15 g calcium caseinate/d showed a superior haematological response. The reasons for this are unknown, but are more likely attributable to an increased absorption of the supplemental iron than to the correction of a protein deficiency.