Nutrient Deficiencies in Breast-Fed Infants

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Abstract
Although human milk is commonly believed to be a complete and perfect food for infants, deficiencies of vitamin K, vitamin D and iron may develop in normal, full-term infants breast-fed by apparently healthy women consuming conventional diets. Other nutrient deficiencies may occur in breast-fed infants as a consequence of special conditions existing in the infant or the mother or both. The instructive case of congenital vitamin B12 deficiency reported by Higginbottom et al. in this issue of the Journal raises the general question of dietary supplementation of breast-fed infants.Because human milk provides less vitamin K than infant formulas . . .