Milk drinking during pregnancy linked to infant iron deficiency
11 Oct antara news
Pregnant women who drink a lot of milk put their babies at risk of
having an iron deficiency during an important phase of development, New
Zealand researchers said.
Iron was essential for healthy brain development, and a deficiency in
babies and toddlers, when the brain was developing rapidly, was
associated with small, but important differences in brain function,
behavior and learning, according to the study from the University of
Auckland.
It found that 7 percent of New Zealand newborns were iron deficient
and established that iron stores were lower in babies whose mothers
consumed higher quantities of milk during pregnancy."
While milk is an important source of calcium it is a poor source of
iron.
Milk is also quite filling and so can reduce the appetite for other
foods that are better sources of iron," pediatrician Associate Professor
Cameron Grant said in a statement."Pregnant women with iron deficiency
are more likely to go into premature labor or deliver a baby with low
birth weight.
They are also more likely to be iron deficient while they are
breastfeeding. " Iron deficiency was the most common micronutrient
deficiency worldwide, with pregnant women and children under 5 years
most at risk.
The condition was twice as common in New Zealand children aged 6
months to 2 years than in children of the same age living in Australia,
Europe or the United States.
The frequency of iron deficiency among women of childbearing age had
risen from 3 percent in 1997 to 7 percent in the most recent survey,
conducted in 2008-2009.
To prevent negative effects on their childs early development, Grant
recommended that pregnant women who drank large amounts of milk take
iron supplements."
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