Iron deficiency in preschool children with autistic spectrum disorders

Iron deficiency (ID) cause negative outcomes on psychomotor and behavioral development of infants and young children. Children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) are under risk for ID and this condition may increase the severity of psychomotor and behavioral problems, some of which already inherently exist in these children. In the present study, the frequency of ID and the association between ID and autistic symptoms, developmental level, and behavioral problems in preschool children attending a clinic for ASD (N = 31) were evaluated. No association was observed between ID and the severity of autistic symptoms, developmental level and behavioral problems. ID was detected in 32.3% (N = 10) of the children based on serum ferritin level. In this study, the negative impact of low serum ferritin in ASD has not been confirmed. On the other hand, the rate of ID was considerably high in this sample of children with ASD compared to normative data of preschool children. Further studies with larger samples are needed to clarify the relationship between ID and clinical variables associated with ASD.