Mom's high milk intake puts baby at risk of iron deficiency

Pregnant women who drink three or more servings of milk per day might put their babies at risk of being iron deficient during an important phase of their development, a new research has warned.
Iron is essential for healthy brain development, and a lack of the nutrient in babies and toddlers, when the brain is developing rapidly, is associated with subsequent small but important differences in brain function and in child behaviour and learning.
The study in New Zealand found that iron stores were lower in babies whose mothers consumed higher quantities of milk during their 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 others foods that are better sources of iron," said Associate Professor Cameron Grant, from the University of Auckland.

"Pregnant women with iron deficiency are more likely to go into premature labour or deliver a baby with low birth weight. They are also more likely to be iron deficient while they are breastfeeding," Grant said.
Using cord blood samples from 131 children from the Growing Up in New Zealand birth cohort, Grant and his team determined the iron status of each newborn.
The results were compared to information collected in face-to-face interviews with the mothers to establish whether maternal and infant demographics, pregnancy health and history, and dietary factors were associated with iron status at birth.
The study is published in the New Zealand Medical Journal (NZMJ).