Background: Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) are the most common nutritional deficiencies among infants, children, and women around the world. The purpose of this article was to provide an overview of observational and clinical trial studies have been conducted on the effects of deficiency and improvement of vitamin D and iron.

Materials and methods: We reviewed various types of articles which were indexed in PubMed, Scopus, and Science Direct and published from January 2010 to December 2014.The keywords used in this study were: vitamin D, vitamin D deficiency iron deficiency anemia, and Micronutrients.

Results: The amount of IDA indices depends on the type of material fortified with vitamin D, duration of the intervention, and the amount of increased calcitriol. Lack of vitamin D, increases the risk of iron deficiency and vice versa. Age, gender, and menopausal status are effective factors affecting this relationship.

Conclusion: Given the importance of the role of iron in the production of calcitriol, VDD may occur in patients with IDA. On the other hand, VDD through gene expression of hepcid results in reduces iron bioavailability and thus increase the risk of IDA.