Prevention of anaemia in inner-city toddlers by the use of a follow-on formula.

Results of research into preventing iron-deficiency anaemia in inner-city toddlers, published in full in Archives of Disease in Childhood (1996; 75: 9-16), are discussed by the authors. In a prospective study, 100 infants already receiving pasteurised cow's milk by six months old were randomly divided into two groups, one to receive a follow-on formula and the other to continue on cow's milk until aged 18 months. At 18 months one-third of the cow's milk group were anaemic compared with 2% of the formula group. The authors consider that if the same volume of standard infant formula had been given instead of a follow-on formula, substantially fewer of the children would have reached the correct reference nutrient intake for iron.