Jordan Times
Thursday, May 27, 1999
Health ministry hopes to overcome iron deficiency with mandatory fortification of domestic flour
By Suha Maayeh
AMMAN — The Ministry of Health plans to fortify domestic flour with iron and folic acid, a step that health officials hope will cut down on iron deficiency in the Kingdom by one-third by the year 2000, official sources said.
Iron deficiency anaemia affects over 2 billion people worldwide, causing tiredness, poor quality of life and low productivity. Over half of the pregnant women in the world are anaemic.
The nutritional disorder, affecting mainly pre-schoolers and women during pregnancy and in their reproductive age, is also common in both developed and developing countries, health officials added.
“Iron deficiency anaemia is considered as a major public health problem in Jordan,” Osama Badran, director of maternal child and health at the ministry, told the Jordan Times this week.
Studies conducted by the health ministry and the United Nations Children's Fund(UNICEF) four years ago showed the prevalence of anaemia in Jordan is about 35 per cent among pregnant and lactating women, 28 per cent among mothers of reproductive age, 15.3 per cent among schoolchildren and 8.8 per cent among infants. This percentage may reach 50 per cent in some small-sample studies.
“The side effects of anaemia can be devastating in pregnant women. It can result in maternal mortality and stillbirth, low birth weight and maternal death if the pregnant woman suffers from other maternal complications,” Badran stressed.
A 1990-91 national nutrition survey conducted in Jordan revealed that 19 per cent of children under five years of age suffer from stunted growth.
Badran explained that the introduction of flour fortification to combat iron deficiency is part of a national action plan for nutrition in Jordan, which was launched in 1996 in cooperation with the World Health Organisation and the UNICEF.
The strategy, which aims to address socio-economically deprived and nutritionally vulnerable segments of the society also includes promoting breast-feeding for a six-month period, iron supplementation, dietary counselling, and controlling infections and parasite manifestations.
Health officials said anaemia is often caused by low dietary iron intake or poor iron absorption resulting from high consumption of wheat and tea.
“The cost of fortifying domestic flour is much cheaper than treating Jordanians who suffer from iron deficiency,” Badran stressed.
He said the plan entails fortifying local flour with supplements in the capital's four major mills.
“Bread made from wheat flour is the most suitable food to be fortified with iron and folic acid since it is popular and consumed by nearly 70 per cent of the population,” but “the price of bread will not change,” Badran stressed.
The milling industry, which is composed of seven mills, produces four main types of flour. The most predominant type is the one used in bread production. Nearly 600,000 tonnes of this bread is produced annually.
Badran added that each kilo of fortified flour would cost 0.8 fils.
The ministry has also set up an ad hoc committee to follow up on the issue, paving the way for legislation to take effect.
Three years ago the Health Ministry enforced another law requiring salt iodisation. It banned imported salt after a 1993 study revealed that 37.7 of schoolchildren have goitre, a thyroid condition caused by iodine deficiency.
In a country where the gap between the rich and poor is widening, amid an economic recession brought about by a host of local and regional factors, one third of the country's 4.8 million population live below the poverty line.
Last month, the education ministry began distributing day meals to nearly 10,000 malnourished students in 123 schools to boost their physical and psychological performance.
The JD773,000 project targets students in the six to nine years old age group in the poverty-stricken areas of the country.