Iron-Rich Complementary Foods: Imperative for All Infants

Mary E Van Elswyk; Robert D Murray; Shalene H McNeill

doi:10.1093/cdn/nzab117

Iron-Rich Complementary Foods: Imperative for All Infants

Curr Dev Nutr. 2021 Sep 16;5(10):nzab117. doi: 10.1093/cdn/nzab117. eCollection 2021 Oct.

Authors

Mary E Van Elswyk¹, Robert D Murray², Shalene H McNeill³

Affiliations

¹ Scientific Affairs, Van Elswyk Consulting, Inc., Clark, CO, USA.
² Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA.
³ Human Nutrition Research, National Cattlemen's Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff, Centennial, CO, USA.

Abstract

Nearly 1 in 5 (18%) infants in the United States is not consuming sufficient iron. A deficiency of iron during early life may be associated with long-term neurodevelopmental consequence(s). The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) are the first DGA to address recommendations for children under 2 y of age. The 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee scientific report includes food-group combinations emphasizing iron-rich foods for 6-12-mo-old infants, but these examples did not meet criteria to establish DGA recommended dietary patterns; consequently, iron-rich dietary patterns for ages 6-12 mo are not provided in the 2020-2025 DGA. The 2020-2025 DGA encourage iron-rich foods by 6 mo of age while emphasizing the importance "particularly for infants fed human milk." Early feeding transitions are dynamic and milk feeding groups are rarely static or exclusive such that emphasizing milk feeding groups may become confusing. Risk-to-benefit favors iron-rich complementary feeding for all infants.

Keywords: breast milk; complementary feeding; dietary guidelines; heme iron; human milk; infant formula; infants; iron deficiency; nonheme iron; older infants.