Feeding toddlers fortified milk can improve their levels of iron, critical for brain development, University of Otago researchers say.
The researchers changed what 225 South Island toddlers, aged 1 and 2, ate for five months.
Placing the toddlers, mainly from Dunedin, on a diet featuring either fortified milk or red meat seemed to halt declining iron levels.
Researcher Dr Anne-Louise Heath, a senior lecturer in human nutrition, said about one in three New Zealand toddlers had low iron levels, which could lead to anaemia.
Iron deficiency could slow brain development, impair cognitive function and cause behavioural problems.
"We're really excited about the findings," she said.
This was the first study in a developed country to use red meat to try to improve the iron levels of toddlers.
It was also the first New Zealand study involving a dietary intervention with fortified milk, in this age group, she said.
As part of her earlier PhD studies, co-investigator Dr Ewa Szymlek-Gay, a Teaching Fellow in human nutrition, carried out the randomised double-blind trial, which was supported by the Health Research Council of New Zealand.
The group of children was split into three groups - some were fed red meat dishes, comprising lean beef mince, up to twice a day; some were given iron-fortified powdered milk; and some were given non-fortified powdered milk.
The researchers measured the protein ferritin, which indicated levels of iron in the blood, at the start and the end of the five-month experiment.
The levels for the children drinking the fortified milk increased 44%.
The levels of those eating red meat stayed about the same, and those fed regular milk powder showed a decline in iron levels.
Dr Heath said eating only 25g -about two heaped tablespoons- of red meat a day was enough to maintain iron levels.
"We were surprised that worked so well," she said.
Iron-fortified milk could be introduced without much disruption to most toddlers' diets.
Results of the study were published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
