Adherence to dehydrated bovine blood consumption and improvement in hemoglobin levels in children aged 6 to 35 months, San Juan de Lurigancho-Peru

Cruz Maldonado R.E.; Saby Marisol M.-A.; Gerónimo Huete J.F.; Flores Flores M.A. · Frontiers in Nutrition (2026) · DOI: 10.3389/fnut.2026.1880873

Resumen

Purpose – This study aimed to evaluate adherence to the consumption of dehydrated bovine blood through the increase in hemoglobin in children aged 6 to 35 months. Patients and methods – An intervention study was conducted on 2, 221 children from 33 health facilities in the district of San Juan de Lurigancho, Peru, where the initial hemoglobin level was measured and according to the diagnosis they were divided into two groups (with anemia and without anemia), of which an educational session on topics related to anemia prevention was developed monthly, a jar of dehydrated bovine blood was delivered, and hemoglobin monitoring was conducted for 3 months. Results – A total of 2, 221 children aged 6 to 35 months were included in the analysis, after excluding two cases of severe anemia. The sample was pre-dominantly composed of children aged 12–23 months (50.4%), with a slight pre-dominance of males (54.0%). Hemoglobin levels increased progressively and significantly throughout the intervention. Mean hemoglobin rose from 10.667 ± 0.673 g/dl at baseline to 11.501 ± 0.716 g/dl at month 3, representing a mean increment of + 0.834 g/dl. The Friedman test confirmed that differences across the four time points were statistically significant (χ2 = 2, 299.50, df = 3, p < 0.001), and Wilcoxon post-hoc comparisons revealed significant increases at each monthly interval (all p < 0.001). Conclusion – There was a high level of significance in iron adherence in children with moderate anemia. Copyright

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana; Universidad Privada Norbert Wiener