Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) has long been known to cause mental and motor problems in infants. A new study has established a possible link between IDA and attention deficit problems.

The study, "An Event-Related Potential Study of Attention and Recognition Memory in Infants with Iron-Deficiency Anemia," (Mathew Burden, et al), studied 15 infants with IDA and 19 infants who were iron sufficient. Both groups were tested on their ability to differentiate their mother's face from a stranger's face. The iron-sufficient infants showed greater attention and recognition responses to the mother at 9 months of age, but the infants with IDA did not show this pattern until 12 months, suggesting a delay in cognitive development. Obviously, more studies are needed to further establish a connection, but Brandy Brow, from Vernon, Vt., isn't surprised by the findings.

"I would have been surprised if they had found otherwise," Brow says. "Being anemic really does impair bodily and brain function."

Brow was diagnosed as having IDA several months after having her first child. She feels that her anemia was passed to her son because she breastfed solely and didn't have enough iron in her own body to begin with. Her son has now been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

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