Iron deficiency anemia is prevalent among infants in Ghana. This study evaluated the effect of micronutrient-fortified infant cereal on the nutritional status of infants in the La Nkwantanang Municipality of the Greater Accra Region of Ghana, located in western Africa. In this double-blind, controlled trial, infants aged 6-18 months were cluster-randomized to receive either micronutrient-fortified infant cereal containing 3.75 mg iron as ferrous fumarate/50 g cereal (INT; n = 107) or the same cereal without iron (CTL; n = 101) to complement other foods and breast milk. The intervention phase lasted six months followed by a two-month post-intervention phase (with no further study product feeding). Hemoglobin and anthropometry were assessed every 2 months for the 8-month study period. After the 6-month intervention phase, adjusted mean ± standard error change in hemoglobin from baseline in INT and CTL was 1.97 ± 0.19 and 1.16 ± 0.21 g/dl, respectively (p < .01 for each); the increase in hemoglobin was significantly larger in INT versus CTL (increase 0.68 ± 0.30 g/dl; p = .02). Prevalence of anemia declined to a significantly greater extent in INT (84.1% to 42.8%) compared to CTL (89.1% to 62.8%; p = .006). There was no significant difference between groups in weight gain (p = .41) or height gain (p = .21) over the study period. In infants aged 6-18 months, micronutrient-fortified infant cereal consumed for 6 months promoted greater reductions in iron-deficiency anemia, which is a significant public health concern not only in Ghana but also in many developing countries globally.
Keywords: Africa; anemia; complementary food; fortified infant cereals; infant cereals; infants; iron fortification; iron status; nutritional status.
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