Prevalence of iron deficiency in childhood wheezers: A cross-sectional study from Eastern India

Das AA, Bannerji R, Nandi S, Patra KC

Pdf Page Numbers :- 11-16

Arkadeep Das A¹, Rohit Bannerji¹, Sayantani Nandi^1,* and Kailash Chandra Patra¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, ESI-PGIMSR, ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Joka, Kolkata-700104, West Bengal, India

*Corresponding author: Dr. Sayantani Nandi, Department of Pediatrics, ESI-PGIMSR, ESIC Medical College and Hospital, Joka, Kolkata-700104, West Bengal, India. Email: n.sayantanikutu@gmail.com

Received 8 September 2025; Revised 11 November 2025; Accepted 19 November 2025; Published 29 November 2025

Citation: Das AA, Bannerji R, Nandi S, Patra KC. Prevalence of iron deficiency in childhood wheezers: A cross-sectional study from Eastern India. J Med Sci Res. 2026; 14(1):11-16. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17727/JMSR.2026/14-2

Copyright: © 2026 Das AA et al. Published by KIMS Foundation and Research Center. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Abstract

Background: Recurrent wheezing in young children, whether transient or due to asthma, can be severe and significantly impair quality of life, thereby placing a burden on the healthcare system and on affected individuals and families. Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) may influence the severity and progression of wheezing in children. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of iron deficiency among childhood wheezers and to compare iron status across different wheezing phenotypes.

Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pediatrics of a tertiary-care hospital and included 96 children aged 1–12 years with recurrent wheeze. Hematological indices and iron parameters were measured. Wheezing phenotypes were categorized as infrequent, recurrent, or frequent based on the number of wheezing episodes in the previous 12 months.

Results: The mean age of participants was 4.97 ± 2.95 years, and 63.5% were male. Iron deficiency without anaemia was present in 37.5% of children, while iron deficiency anemia was observed in 33.3%. Frequent wheezers demonstrated the poorest iron status, with the lowest mean hemoglobin, ferritin, serum iron, and transferrin saturation, and the highest TIBC values. In contrast, infrequent wheezers had the most favorable iron profile, with 62.5% showing normal iron status. A significant negative correlation was found between serum ferritin levels and type of wheezing.

Conclusion: Iron deficiency is highly prevalent among childhood wheezers and is strongly associated with increased wheezing severity. Children who wheeze more frequently have markedly poorer iron status. Routine screening and timely correction of iron deficiency may be beneficial in the management of recurrent wheezing in children.

Keywords: iron deficiency; anaemia; wheeze phenotypes; children