Pediatrics: Journal Article

I chose this article because of a 5-year-old female patient who had blood work done, and low H&H, and low MCV, she has been on ferrous iron for 6 months with no improvement. I was told by my attending that one of the main causes of anemia in children is drinking too much cow-milk. This article presents two-rare cases of children, a 16-month-old boy and a 2.5-year-old girl, who developed severe microcytic anemia, enteropathy with hypoalbuminemia, and anasarca as a result of excessive cow’s milk consumption. This study found that due to high casein, and calcium content cow’s milk can prevent the digestive tract from absorbing iron from other foods, and it should be noted that cow’s milk is low in iron to begin with. Cow’s milk is poor in vitamin C, and pasteurization additionally reduces its content and vitamin C increases the absorption of iron from the GI tract. The mechanism of this action where cow-milk stops the absorption of iron is not very well understood. The authors concluded that iron-deficiency anemia can be caused by excessive consumption of cows-milk. The authors recommended a well-balanced diet and cows-milk show not be the only source of nutrient. All pediatric visits in the first years of life should include a thorough nutritional medical history.