Low iron is the leading risk factor for burden of disease in children under the age of 5 years in Australia.
Young children are particularly affected by iron deficiency due to their high iron needs for rapid growth and development. They often have limited intake of iron-rich foods, especially during the transition from predominantly milk-based diets to diets based on family foods, which often don't include enough iron for a child's increased needs.
Left untreated, iron deficiency can impact oxygen transport, impair childhood thriving and neurodevelopment, has been associated with depression, anxiety, social, and attention problems, and whilst iron deficieny can be adjusted via supplementation, some effects of nutritional deficiencies may not be reversible.
There is also increasing evidence to suggest that iron deficiency can affect sleep and wake behaviours, such as restless leg syndrome (RLS), periodic limb movements in sleep (PMS), sleep disordered breathing, and paediatric ADHD.
There is limited research exploring the association between iron deficiency and quality of sleep of young children and infants, with many of the studies primarily looking at the adult population with skewed results.
Therefore, the aim of this sub-project is to investigate whether there is an association between iron deficiency and sleep quality (including sleep duration, sleep latency, sleep/wake problems) in a sub-set of one-year-old children.
The research team aims to answer the following questions:
- Do infants with iron deficiency and/or anaemia have poorer sleep quality at one year of age (based on a score out of 100, from the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire (BISQ))?
- Do infants with iron deficiency and/or anaemia have short sleep duration at one year of age (i.e. less than 10 hours sleep)?
- Do infants with iron deficiency and/or anaemia have longer sleep latency (i.e. more than 1 hour to fall asleep)?
- Do infants with iron deficiency and/or anaemia experience greater sleep disturbances (i.e. interrupted sleep)?
Investigators
- Dr Sarah Whalan, ORIGINS Databank Manager at The Kids Research Institute Australia
- Dr Nina D'Vaz, ORIGINS Biobank Manager at The Kids Research Institute Australia
- Dr Jamie Tan at The Kids Research Institute Australia
- Natasha Bear at The Kids Research Institute Australia
- Amy Braddon, Phd Student at Curtin University