From around six months onwards breast milk alone no longer provides enough iron to sustain adequate blood haemoglobin and ferritin levels in infants. It is important to introduce suitable weaning foods from this age and incorporate feeding practices that enhance absorption of iron from the diet (eg Vit C containing foods or drinks with meals).

This study will be nested within ALSPAC a unique, ongoing research project which enrolled 14,541 mothers during pregnancy in 1991-2 and has followed the children and parents in minute detail ever since. It is a world resource with unrivalled data - with the potential to find ways in which common diseases in childhood and adult life can be prevented or treated.