Effects of Supplementary Diet on Iron Status and Development in Infants

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of supplementary diet in infants. Influence of appropriate dietary habits on infants was also examined by being applicable to diets fortified chewiness as a means of intervention. The iron supplementary diet was supported to the healthy infants twice a day for three months. Measures of hemoglobin, hematocrit, RBC count, serum iron, TIBC, ferritin, development examination, and dietary intake patterns of experimental group (n = 25) and control group (n = 20) were performed before and after the intervention. The amount of iron intake from the supplementary diet in the experimental group was 1.77 +/- 0.80 mg/day. After the intervention period, the experimental group not only had increased intakes of grains also decreased intakes of milk. Outcomes observed in infants receiving iron intervention showed that the improved trend of excessive milk intakes and the possibility as a regular diet by serving the iron supplementary diet which can apply to main dish. All measures in blood did not provide significant differences except TIBC between the experimental and the control group before the intervention. But, after the intervention, the experimental group improved most levels of measures, especially significance in hemoglobin, but serum iron. Development of two groups did not differ significantly and both groups were in the range of normal infants' development. However, the levels of MDI and PDI evaluated by BSID-II in the experimental group were slightly higher than the control. Furthermore, the development of cognitive and languistic function was associated with infant growth in the experimental group. In conclusion, this research demonstrated that the iron supplementary diet could affect the iron status and the development of infants despite low-dose supplementation of iron.