The selection of pregnant women to assess the effect of fortification considered
two aspects: the first, already mentioned in
the present study, is that the group analyzed
is one of the most vulnerable to anemia; and
the second, which enabled this study to be
developed, is the fact that the prenatal care
provided by public health services guarantees
that a Hb test will be performed for all
pregnant women having their first prenatal
consultation. However, the difficulty in
establishing the diagnosis of anemia during
pregnancy should be considered, as
hemoglobin concentration changes with
the hemodilution that occurs at this time
in a woman’s life. Based on such difficulty,
hemoglobin levels were analyzed according
to gestational trimester.