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Nutrient Requirements and Optimal Nutrition

Iron-Fortified Rice Is As Efficacious As Supplemental Iron Drops in Infants and Young Children^1,2

³ School of Nursing and Nutrition, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil, 30130-100 ⁴ Nutrition Department, College of Human Ecology, Hanyang University, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-791, South Korea

How to improve iron status among infants and young children is of continued concern in low- to middle-income countries, including Brazil. In a double blind, 5-mo, home-based, randomized trial in Brazil, we gave one group of mildly anemic 6- to 24-mo-old children (n = 175) rice fortified with micronized ferric pyrophosphate using the Ultra Rice technology and a placebo solution (URG) and another group identical nonfortified rice and iron drops. We instructed parents on the correct dosage of iron drops and to feed their children rice as they normally would. We measured serum ferritin (SF) and hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations at baseline and at 5 mo. At baseline, the prevalences of iron deficiency and anemia in the total sample were 73.1 and 100%, respectively. At 5 mo, SF and Hb increased in both groups, although the change in the URG was larger (P < 0.01). Adult participants were unable to distinguish cooked fortified rice from unfortified rice in terms of smell, color, or taste. As rice is normally consumed at home, MPF-fortified rice increased iron stores and reduced anemia in a group of mildly anemic children 6–24 mo old. In populations where young children are routinely fed 100 g of cooked rice daily, fortifying it with iron may improve iron status at least as well as providing free iron drops.

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mark{at}enf.ufmg.br.

Manuscript received 10 July 2009. Initial review completed 21 August 2009. Revision accepted 20 October 2009.