Effectiveness of Iron Supplementation in the Second Year of Life for Prevention of Iron Deficiency

Healthy babies(age 8-18 months) following a routine blood count, with no anemia or iron deficiency, will be randomly placed in two groups. Group 1 will receive a 3 months preventive dose of an iron preparation (Ferripel 3 iron polysaccharide complex). Group 2 will be followed up as a control group. Following a nutritional questionnair, parents of all babies will receive instruction regarding appropriate nutrition in the 2nd year of life. A follow-up blood count will be taken from all participating babies 3 months after recruitment. The study aims to evaluate effectiveness of iron supplementation in the 2nd year of life. The hypothesis is that babies who receive iron supplementation in the 2nd year of life are less likely to develop iron deficiency or anemia.