Report: Infants need meat, fish, poultry

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OTTAWA, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Infants as young as 6 months old would benefit from eating meat, poultry and fish, a group of Canadian health organizations announced Tuesday.

Under the auspices of the federal Health Canada agency, the Canadian Pediatric Society, Dietitians of Canada and Breastfeeding Committee of Canada recommended parents break from North American tradition in order to bolster infants' intake of iron.

"Infants should be offered iron containing foods two or more times each day," the summary said. "They should be served meat, fish, poultry or meat alternatives daily."

The recommendations said such meat substitutes as tofu are also healthy for babies, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

"While meat and fish are traditional first foods for some aboriginal groups, the common practice in North America has been to introduce infant cereal, vegetables and fruit as first complementary foods," the groups said.

Additionally, the report said mothers should breast-feed their children for at least six months and supplement infants' diets with 400 international units of vitamin D each day.