EVALUATION OF BIOAVAILABILITY OF IRON IN Fe-ENRICHED YEASTII. FEEDING STUDY IN PRESCHOOL CHILDREN / 营养学报

ABSTRACT

135 children, aged 18-36 months, were selected from two nurseries and divided into 3 groups. To children in group A, Fe-enriched yeast fortified "Bao Bao Le" formula powder (40+5g per capita per day) was given instead of soybean milk and soybean curd in the ordinary nursery diet. Unfortified "Bao Bao Le" was given to group B as another test food. Children in group C, serving as control, were given ordinary nursery diet. This experiment lasted for three months. Dietary survey, Hb, FEP, SF, serum uric acid concentration, vitamin B2 and C loading tests (4 h) , and anthropometric measurements were determined before and after the experiment.No statistically significant differences were observed in nutrient intake, vitamin loading tests and serum uric acid (seeking for nuclecic acid metabolite) in each group before and after the experiment. At the end of the experiment, changes of Hb, FEP, SF concentration and FEP/Hb indicated that iron status of children in group A was much better than that in groups B and C, with no significant differences between the latter groups. Weight gain and height increment of children in group C were much less than those in groups A and B, with no significant differences between the latter groups too. Therefore we conclude that the improvement of iron status in group A is due to the effect of Fe-enriched yeast contained in the fortified "Bao Bao Le" formula powder.