Modification in Complementary Food Composition to Improve the Status of Iron and Fatty Acids in Infants.
Modification in Complementary Food Composition to Improve the Status of Iron and Fatty Acids in Infants.
The objective of this study is to determine the influence of an increase of meat in
 complementary food on iron status and the effect of an exchange of vegetable oil in the same
 food on the status of omega-3 fatty acids in infants in the second six months of life.
Because of rapid growth in the first year of life, infants are at a high risk to develop iron
 deficiency (ID) or even iron deficiency anaemia (IDA). Iron metabolism in infancy seems to be
 immature and to be affected by developmental changes and is not yet fully understood.
 Therefore studies with both, detailed dietary intake and a full set of biomarkers to
 characterize iron status or the risk of IDA are welcome.

 LC-PUFA, especially docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, n-3), are of important meaning in infants´
 neural development because neural tissues have a unique pattern of FA. DHA is predominantly
 found in brain and retina. LC-PUFA can be either supplied preformed by diet or converted from
 their essential precursors the polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) linoleic acid (LA, n-6) and
 α-linolenic acid (ALA, n-3) by the organism dependent on the ratio of n-6/n-3 FA in the diet.

 In the case of iron as well as of PUFA and LC-PUFA very little is known about the nutritional
 supply and its effect on status in the second half of the first year of life. Therefore the
 objective of DINO is to examine the feasibility of increasing meat and of exchanging n-6 rich
 corn oil vs. n-3 rich rapeseed oil in common commercial menus and to examine the effects on
 iron status and on blood FA pattern respectively as primary outcome variables in a
 double-blinded randomized controlled intervention trial (RCT).
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  a term healthy newborn infant (birth weight > 2500 g, gestational age > 37 weeks);

 -  inclusion during the first two months of life.

 -  German speaking mother;

 -  the intention of the mother to breast-feed the child and to feed study menus 5 to 7
 times per week beginning in the fifth to seventh month of life.

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  preterm infants