Use of Iron-Fortified Rice Reduces Anemia in Infants

Food fortification is advocated to tackle iron deficiency in anemic populations. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of iron-fortified rice (Ultrarice((R))) weekly on hemoglobin and anemia levels compared with standard rice (control). This cluster-randomized study deals with infants (10-23 months) from two public child day care centers in Brazil, n = 216, in an 18 week intervention. The intervention group received individual portions of fortified rice (50 g) provided 56.4 mg elemental/Fe. For intervention center: baseline mean hemoglobin was 11.44 +/- 1.07 g/dl, and after intervention 11.67 +/- 0.96 g/dl, p < 0.029; for control: baseline mean hemoglobin value was 11.35 +/- 4.01 g/dl, and after intervention 11.36 +/- 2.10 g/dl, p = 0.986. Anemia prevalence for intervention center was 31.25% at baseline, and 18.75% at end of study, p = 0.045; for control 43.50% were anemic at baseline, and 37.1% at the end of study, p = 0.22. Number Needed to Treat was 7. Iron-fortified rice was effective in increasing hemoglobin levels and reducing anemia in infants.