Synthesized evidence indicates that addition of multiple micronutrients to Fe supplementation may only marginally improve Hb response compared with Fe supplementation alone .
However , addition of ' other micronutrients ' may have a negative effect .
Routine addition of unselected multiple micronutrients to Fe therefore appears unjustified for nutritional anaemia control programmes
OBJECTIVES To study the effect of combining multiple ( two or more ) micronutrients with Fe supplementation on Hb response , when compared with placebo and with Fe supplementation , in children .
Effect of a fortified maize-meal porridge on anemia, micronutrient status, and motor development of infants.
BACKGROUND Maize-meal porridge is used for infant feeding in many African countries , including South Africa . A low-cost , finely milled , maize-meal porridge was fortified with beta-carotene , iron , and zinc ( 100 % of recommended dietary allowance ) , as well as ascorbic acid , copper , selenium , riboflavin , vitamin B-6 , vitamin B-12 , and vitamin E. OBJECTIVE We assessed whether the fortified porridge could reduce anemia and improve the micronutrient status and motor development of infants .  DESIGN Infants aged 6 - 12 mo ( n = 361 ) were r and omly assigned to receive either the fortified or unfortified porridge for 6 mo . Primary outcomes were hemoglobin and serum retinol , zinc , and ferritin concentrations and motor development . Growth was assessed as a secondary outcome . Primary and secondary outcomes were assessed at baseline and 6 mo . RESULTS Two hundred ninety-two infants completed the study . The fortified-porridge group had an intervention effect of 9.4 microg/L ( 95 % CI : 3.6 , 15.1 microg/L ) for serum ferritin and 9 g/L ( 95 % CI : 6 , 12 g/L ) for hemoglobin concentrations . The proportion of infants with anemia decreased from 45 % to 17 % in the fortified-porridge group , whereas it remained > 40 % in the control group . The fortified-porridge group achieved on average 15.5 of the 25 motor development score items , whereas the control group achieved 14.4 items ( P = 0.007 ) . Serum retinol concentration showed an inconsistent effect , and no intervention effect was observed for serum zinc concentrations . CONCLUSIONS This low-cost fortified porridge can potentially have a significant effect in reducing anemia and improving iron status and motor development of infants in poor setting s. The formulation needs some adjustment in terms of zinc fortification
Synthesized evidence indicates that addition of multiple micronutrients to Fe supplementation may only marginally improve Hb response compared with Fe supplementation alone .
However , addition of ' other micronutrients ' may have a negative effect .
Routine addition of unselected multiple micronutrients to Fe therefore appears unjustified for nutritional anaemia control programmes
OBJECTIVES To study the effect of combining multiple ( two or more ) micronutrients with Fe supplementation on Hb response , when compared with placebo and with Fe supplementation , in children .