COMPARISON OF GROWTH OF BREAST FED AND COW’S MILK FED INFANTS
*Dr. Qasim Abbas, Dr. Mubashir Hassan and Dr. Shahid Anwar
ABSTRACT
Objective: Iron and folic acid are essential nutrients needed for hematopoiesis. Infants’ diet is commonly deficient in these micronutrients that lead to nutritional anemia. Aim of this study was to determine serum iron, serum ferritin and red cell folate levels among healthy breast fed, fortified milk and cow’s milk fed infants. Methods: A total of 120 infants of 4-9 months of age were enrolled in this study. It included 40 normal breast fed controls, 40 fortified milk fed (FM) and 40 cow’s milk fed (CM) infants. Serum iron, serum ferritin and red cell folate concentrations were determined using colorimetric and enzyme immunoassay techniques. Results: Mean serum iron, serum ferritin and red cell folate concentrations of breast fed control group were 120.9±68.4?g/dl, 109±71.7ng/ml and 1044.1±409.2ng/ml respectively. Fortified milk (FM) group showed significantly decreased serum iron (p
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