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 .
Randomized efficacy trial of a micronutrient-fortified beverage in primary school children in Tanzania.
BACKGROUND Dietary supplements providing physiologic amounts of several micronutrients simultaneously have not been thoroughly tested for combating micronutrient deficiencies . OBJECTIVE We determined whether a beverage fortified with 10 micronutrients at physiologic doses influenced the iron and vitamin A status and growth of rural children ( aged 6 - 11 y ) attending primary schools . DESIGN In this r and omized , double-blind , placebo-controlled efficacy trial , children were assigned to receive the fortified beverage or an unfortified beverage at school for 6 mo . RESULTS There were nonsignificant differences at baseline between children in the fortified and nonfortified groups in iron status , serum retinol , and anthropometry . At the 6-mo follow-up , among children with anemia ( hemoglobin < 110 g/L ) , there was a significantly larger increase in hemoglobin concentration in the fortified group than in the nonfortified group ( 9.2 and 0.2 g/L , respectively ) . Of those who were anemic at baseline , 69.4 % in the nonfortified group and 55.1 % in the fortified group remained anemic at follow-up ( RR : 0.79 ) , a cure rate of 21 % . The prevalence of children with low serum retinol concentrations ( < 200 microg/L ) dropped significantly from 21.4 % to 11.3 % in the fortified group compared with a nonsignificant change ( 20.6 % to 19.7 % ) in the nonfortified group . At follow-up , mean incremental changes in weight ( 1.79 compared with 1.24 kg ) , height ( 3.2 compared with 2.6 cm ) , and BMI ( 0.88 compared with 0.53 ) were significantly higher in the fortified group than in the nonfortified group . CONCLUSION The fortified beverage significantly improved hematologic and anthropometric measurements and significantly lowered the overall prevalence of anemia and vitamin A deficiency
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 .