Effect of a beverage fortified with evaporated sugarcane juice on hemoglobin levels in preschool children

• Autor(a) principal: Arcanjo, Francisco Placido Nogueira [UNIFESP]
• Data de Publicação: 2009
• Outros Autores: Pinto, Vicente de Paulo Teixeira, Arcanjo, Maria R., Amici, Márcia R., Amancio, Olga Maria Silverio [UNIFESP]
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNIFESP
• Texto Completo: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1020-49892009001000010; http://repositorio.unifesp.br/handle/11600/45507
• topic: Anemia; rapadura; child, preschool; hemoglobins; iron; dietary carbohydrates; Brazil

The study objective was to measure the effect of consumption of a beverage mixed with a high-iron sweetener (evaporated sugarcane juice known as rapadura) on hemoglobin levels in preschool children, and to compare it with the effect of consuming the same beverage sweetened with refined sugar. Research consisted of a 12-week randomized, controlled double-blind trial conducted in 2007 at a state-run school in Sobral, Brazil, among children aged 2-3 years. The study sample was divided into two groups-one consuming cashew juice mixed with 25 g of rapadura and 40 mg of ascorbic acid (per 200-mL serving), and another consuming the same quantity of juice and ascorbic acid sweetened with 25 g of standard refined sugar. A significant statistical increase in hemoglobin was observed in the group consuming the rapadura-fortified beverage. It was therefore concluded that consumption of rapadura increased hemoglobin and thus reduced iron deficiency anemia in preschool children.