Background: Highly bioavailable dietary iron is needed to ensure optimal iron status in infants during weaning. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of increased meat intake on hemoglobin concentration (Hb), serum ferritin (SF), and serum transferrin receptors (TfR) in late infancy.
Methods: Forty-one healthy, term, partially breast-fed 8-month-old infants were randomized into two groups: a low-meat group (LMG), in which infants received a diet with a mean meat content of 10 g/day and a high-meat group (HMG), in which infants received a diet with a mean meat content of 27 g/day. The intervention lasted for 2 months, and blood samples were drawn on the first and the last days of the intervention.
Results: At the beginning of the intervention, no significant differences were found in Hb, SF, TfR values between the two groups. After the intervention, there was a significant (p = 0.008) difference in the change in hemoglobin (delta Hb) concentration. In the LMG delta Hb was -4.9 g/l (range, -12.9-5.6 g/l) and in the HMG -0.6 g/l (range, -12.1-7.3 g/l). There was no significant difference in change in SF or TfR concentrations between the LMG and the HMG. The intake of iron from meat (mean; range) was significantly higher (p = 0.0001) in the HMG (0.4 mg/day; 0.02-0.7 mg/day) than in the LMG (0.1 mg/day; 0.03-0.5 mg/day). However, there was no significant difference in total iron intake between the HMG (3.1 mg/day; 0.4-6.2 mg/day) and the LMG (3.4 mg/day; 1.4-6.1 mg/day).
Conclusion: The results suggest that an increase in meat intake can prevent a decrease in Hb in late infancy, probably by enhancing iron absorption. However, there was no effect on iron stores or on cellular iron deficiency, evaluated by SF and TfR levels, respectively.