ReviewNutrients2016
Iron Fortification of Foods for Infants and Children in Low-Income Countries: Effects on the Gut Microbiome, Gut Inflammation, and Diarrhea.
Review in Nutrients, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03866837 (Prebiotic GOS and Lactoferrin for Beneficial Gut Microbiota With Iron Supplements), which is not on this map. Cited by 56 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Prebiotic GOS and Lactoferrin for Beneficial Gut Microbiota With Iron Supplements
Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 104 citations in OpenAlex.
- Characteristics that modify the effect of small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplementation on child anemia and micronutrient status: an individual participant data meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Millets Can Have a Major Impact on Improving Iron Status, Hemoglobin Level, and in Reducing Iron Deficiency Anemia-A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in nutrition · 2021Pooled it
- Home fortification of foods with multiple micronutrient powders for health and nutrition in children under two years of age.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Point-of-use fortification of foods with micronutrient powders containing iron in children of preschool and school-age.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017Pooled it
- Enteral iron dose effect on iron storage, intestinal barrier, and gut microbiome in preterm infants: a randomized clinical trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Trial
- Effect of combined probiotic and iron-folic acid supplementation on iron status and gut inflammation markers: a randomized controlled trial among anaemic children.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Trial
- Micronutrient-fortified infant cereal improves Hb status and reduces iron-deficiency anaemia in Indian infants: an effectiveness study.The British journal of nutrition · 2020Trial
- Iron in Micronutrient Powder Promotes an Unfavorable Gut Microbiota in Kenyan Infants.Nutrients · 2017Trial
- Gut microbiome signatures associated with iron-deficiency anemia in young adults.Iranian journal of microbiology · 2026Article
- Article
- Infantile Anemia and Iron Treatments Affect the Gut Microbiome of Young Rhesus Monkeys.Microorganisms · 2025Article
- The value of an ecological approach to address micronutrient malnutrition.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2025Article
- Maternal dietary iron intake during pregnancy has a potential effect on the neonate gut microbiota profile.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Article
- Differential gut microbiota composition in β-Thalassemia patients and its correlation with iron overload.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Effects of Iron Status on Adaptive Immunity and Vaccine Efficacy: A Review.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Review
- Erythroferrone and hepcidin levels in children with iron deficiency anemia.BMC pediatrics · 2024Article
- The Effect of Oral Iron Supplementation/Fortification on the Gut Microbiota in Infancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- [The use of ultra-processed foods as a source of micronutrients for children: risk of toxicity?]Cadernos de saude publica · 2024Article
- Biology of Anemia: A Public Health Perspective.The Journal of nutrition · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is common among infants and children in Sub-Saharan Africa and is a leading contributor to the global burden of disease, as well as a hindrance to national development. In-home iron fortification of complementary foods using micronutrient powders (MNPs) effectively reduces the risk for IDA by ensuring that the iron needs of infants and young children are met without changing their traditional diet. However, the iron dose delivered by MNPs is high, and comparable on a mg iron per kg body weight to the supplemental doses (2 mg/kg) typically given to older children, which increases diarrhea risk. In controlled studies, iron-containing MNPs modestly increase risk for diarrhea in infants; in some cases, the diarrhea is severe and may require hospitalization. Recent in vitro and in vivo studies provide insights into the mechanism of this effect. Provision of iron fortificants to school-age children and iron-containing MNPs to weaning infants decreases the number of beneficial 'barrier' commensal gut bacteria (e.g., bifidobacteria), increases the enterobacteria to bifidobacteria ratio and abundances of opportunistic pathogens (e.g., pathogenic Escherichia coli), and induces gut inflammation. Thus, although iron-containing MNPs are highly effective in reducing IDA, they may increase gastrointestinal morbidity in infants, and safer formulations are needed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.