Vitamin B12 Serum Levels of Six to Nine-monthold Infants According to Feeding Practices

Özet

Aim: Vitamin B12 is naturally obtained from animal-derived foods and is important for the development and wellbeing of babies. Vitamin B12deficiency is a general health concern in developing countries. This study aimed to investigate the effects of different feeding practices onvitamin B12 levels and hemogram parameters in infants aged 6-9 months.Materials and Methods: A total of 120 infants (61 boys, 59 girls) aged 6-9 months were retrospectively evaluated. These babies were assigned tothree groups according to feeding practices: 1) only breast milk, 2) breast milk and formula, and 3) only formula in addition to complementaryfoods. Laboratory data (vitamin B12, hemoglobin, hematocrit, mean corpuscular volume, white blood cell count, and absolute neutrophilcount) of the patients were retrospectively compared.Results: The mean and median age of the patients was 6.6±1.1 months. The vitamin B12 levels in babies that only received formula werestatistically significantly higher than those in babies taking only breast milk or taking both breast milk and formula (p<0.05). Furthermore,vitamin B12 levels were significantly lower in babies receiving only breast milk than in those receiving both formula and breast milk (p<0.001).Conclusion: This study showed that vitamin B12 levels were lower in babies that only received breast milk compared to those in babiesreceiving formula. The babies that were receiving formula only had the highest levels of vitamin B12. This study determined that breast milkalone was not sufficient to maintain normal levels of vitamin B12 in 6 to 9-month-old babies in the region. Therefore, both mothers andbabies should be provided with the necessary support in terms of vitamin B12 levels, and prophylaxis should be discussed from the viewpointof preventive healthcare services.