Iron supplementation of iron-replete Indonesian infants is associated
with reduced weight-for-age.
Acta Paediatr 2008 Apr 14.
Lind T, Seswandhana R, Persson LA, Lönnerdal B

Background:
General iron supplementation to prevent iron deficiency in infants who
are iron sufficient when starting supplementation may adversely affect
their health.
Objective:
A secondary analysis to explore the effect of iron supplementation on
iron-replete (IR; Hb /=113 g/L and S-ferritin /=33 mug/L) or non-
iron-replete 6-month-old Indonesian infants participating in a large,
randomized trial on iron and zinc supplementation.
Results:
Among the iron-supplemented IR (Fe-IR, n = 80) infants S-ferritin was,
compared to non-iron-supplemented (NS) IR infants (NS-IR, n = 74),
significantly higher (47.5 vs. 20.7 mug/L, p = 0.04), and S-zinc
significantly lower (9.7 vs. 10.5 mumol/L, p = 0.04). Haemoglobin
concentration (Hb) did not differ between the Fe-IR and NS-IR groups.
Change in weight-for-age z-score (WAZ) from 6 to 12 months and mean
WAZ at 12 months was lower in the Fe-IR group compared to the NS-IR
group (-1.45 vs. -1.03, p 0.001 and -1.97 vs. -1.60, p 0.001,
respectively). There was no difference in morbidity between groups.
Iron supplementation of non-iron-replete infants increased Hb and S-
ferritin, but did not affect S-zinc or anthropometrical indices.
Conclusion:
In our study, iron supplementation of IR infants affected WAZ
adversely, whereas iron supplementation to non-iron-replete infants
did not affect growth. These results support a cautious approach to
iron supplementation of IR infants.



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Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) [Acta Paediatr]

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