STRATEGIES FOR THE PREVENTION OF IRON-DEFICIENCY - IRON IN INFANT FORMULAS AND BABY FOODS

Iron deficiency is the most prevalent nutrition deficiency among infan ts and young children in industrialized as well as developing countrie s. It is a condition that is preventable through appropriate dietary m easures. The infant born at term is endowed with a sizable amount of i ron, which allows the infant to be fed a nearly iron-free diet (e.g., breast milk) for 4-6 months without becoming overtly iron deficient. T his has led some to conclude that depletion of iron stores in healthy infants is a normal and, hence, innocuous process that usually gives w ay to gradual repletion of iron stores as dietary diversification lead s to greater iron intakes. Preservation of maternal iron stores at the expense of infant iron stores may have offered survival advantages to the human species during evolution. But there is no evidence that dep letion of iron stores can offer advantages to infants in industrialize d or developing countries. On the contrary, there is ample documentati on of shortterm as well as long-term adverse effects from iron deficie ncy. Prudence therefore dictates that a high priority be assigned to t he prevention of iron depletion and deficiency among infants and young children worldwide.