SingaporeMotherhood | Parenting
January 2016
Nutrition for Babies: How Important Is Iron?
Did you know that at full-term, babies have huge amounts of iron stored in their bodies to last them for the first six months of their life? Iron is a crucial element that plays an important part in an infant’s childhood nutrition. In particular, it is essential for red blood cells to facilitate the transport of oxygen to all body parts for the purpose of energy production.
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Nestlé’s newly improved Cerelac infant cereals were launched at the National Museum of Singapore yesterday afternoon. And what has this to do with iron, you ask?
Well, in order to help bridge the iron gap and complement a baby’s diet, Nestlé has increased the iron content in its new range of infant cereals. This new formula contains 30 per cent more iron than the previous Cerelac recipe. With this, it will meet more than 50 per cent of an infant’s daily iron requirement in just a single serving!
Nestlé has also rolled out the Cerelac Iron Calculator. This is an interactive platform for parents to ensure that the food their baby consumes meets the daily iron needs – all at the click of a button! Simply select from categories of food and their respective servings in order to estimate the iron intake for your child. That’s all!
At a panel discussion on the importance of iron supplementation for infants, the three panelists were Dr. Janice Wong, Paediatrician at Thomson Paediatric Centre, Ms. Frances Yeo, Child Psychologist, andpopular parenting and lifestyle blogger, Ms. Qiuting Hong discussed the importance of iron for babies.
So, why is iron so essential for babies? Firstly, it has short-term and long-term effects on a child’s motor, cognitive and socio-emotional development, coordination and behaviour. Dr. Wong also shared that a local study revealed that babies who suffered from iron deficiency had a higher rate of poor academic performance.
Ms. Angela Lu, Country Business Manager, Infant Nutrition, Nestlé Singapore, was also present at the launch. She told us that Nestlé is constantly tailoring its Cerelac Infant Cereals to support different stages of an infant’s growth and development.
“To bridge the nutrition gap for infants, our new and improved Nestlé Cerelac range contains 30% more iron, ensuring every bowl of Cerelac Infant Cereal is enriched with adequate vitamins and minerals to ensure a balanced and nutritious meal,” she commented.
In fact, making sure that your child’s daily requirements of iron are met is not as tough as it sounds, really. Iron-fortified foods such as rice cereals, red meat and green leafy vegetables are good examples to introduce to your baby’s diet during the weaning stages.
And with the new Cerelac infant cereals coming in 11 different variants to cater to each stage of a baby’s growth, you won’t have to worry about whether your growing child is getting enough iron again!
The new Nestlé Cerelac Infant Cereals are available at stores at retail prices of $4.50, $5.50, $6.50 for 225g, 250g and 350g pack sizes respectively.
All images courtesy of Nestlé Cerelac.
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