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Neelmani Singh: Why Iron Deficiency Is a Brain Health Issue
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May 7, 2026, 06:37

Neelmani Singh: Why Iron Deficiency Is a Brain Health Issue

Neelmani Singh, Seinior Consultant, ECD at Meghalaya Early Childhood Development Mission, shared a post on LinkedIn:

“There’s a quiet crisis we’re still not naming clearly enough.

Iron deficiency in India is often discussed as anemia.

But that framing misses what matters most.

This is fundamentally a brain development issue.

By the time a child turns five, most of their brain development has already happened.

And yet, data show that a large share of young children are iron deficient during exactly these early years.

The consequences don’t always look dramatic.

There are no obvious early warning signs.

But the effects show up later, in learning, attention, and school readiness.

And by then, we are already behind.

What makes this harder is that our systems are not fully aligned with this reality.

We tend to focus on severe anemia, or on later stages of the life cycle.

Early childhood, especially the first two years, does not get the same urgency.

But that is precisely where the window is.

If we are serious about early childhood development, then iron deficiency has to be part of that conversation, not as a side issue, but as central to how children grow, learn, and thrive.

This means acting earlier:

  • Supporting mothers before and during pregnancy
  • Ensuring timely, iron-rich complementary feeding
  • Screening young children, not just waiting for symptoms

Because what starts early does not stay small.

It compounds, quietly, across the life course and across generations.

We often talk about investing in human capital.

This is one of the most concrete places to begin.”

Neelmani Singh: Why Iron Deficiency Is a Brain Health Issue

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