§ Ms. LynneTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what guidelines she has issued to health authorities and family health services on the monitoring and detection of iron deficiency anaemia in children;
(2) what information she has on the number of children under the age of five years suffering from iron deficiency anaemia.
§ Mr. SackvilleNo guidelines have been issued. Iron deficiency anaemia is a recognised risk in this age group but the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy, in considering dietary reference values for the population in 1991, reported that more information was needed on the iron status of different groups of the United Kingdom population, including infants and children.
The Government have set up a national diet and nutrition survey to monitor the nutritional status of representative groups of the population in an eight year cycle. A survey of pre-school children is currently underway. An expert group on the weaning diet is now considering the nutritional needs of infants and young children and is expected to report by the end of 1993. We will then review the need for guidelines to the national health service.