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Meeting baby's iron needs
After birth, a baby's iron reserves gradually deplete. A baby who is raised solely on breast milk maintains good iron reserves until four to six months of age. A baby raised on iron-fortified formula maintains good iron stores while on the formula.
From birth to 24 months of age, your baby's brain goes through major stages of growth, and iron is an essential nutritional mineral in its development. Our bodies need iron to form the red blood cells in hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the bloodstream to various tissues in the body. Inadequate iron nutrition in his first six months may result in both poor physical growth and impaired learning ability.
Both preterm babies and babies from low socioeconomic backgrounds are at high risk of iron deficiency. A study of infants from low-income families in Montreal who were between 10 and 14 months of age found that 24.3 per cent of them had iron deficiency anemia. In Canada, iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia are prevalent even among those not considered to be at risk. It's estimated that 3.5 per cent of six-month-old babies and 10.5 per cent of 18-month-old toddlers have either an iron deficiency or iron deficiency anemia.
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