Decreased iron intakes can impact on childhood growth and development and cause iron deficiency anaemia, with the highest prevalence of anaemia among preschool-age children (1) . The aim of the current analysis was to quantify iron intakes and dietary sources in the diets of two year olds in Ireland.Food consumption data was collected in the form of a two day weighed food diary at the 24-month assessment of participants in the Cork BASELINE Birth Cohort Study. Data for 468 participants (median [IQR] age of 2·1 [2·1, 2·2] years) was analysed using the nutritional analysis software WISP © (Tinuviel Software), which includes UK and Irish food composition data (EuroFIR) (2) . Of the 468 participants, 51% were male and the majority of their mothers were Caucasian (99%) and had a third level education (89%). The mean daily intake (MDI) of iron in the total population was 6·8 mg and 30% of children had intakes below the EAR of 5·3 mg (3) . The main sources of iron were breakfast cereals, breads, infant formula/growing-up milks (GUM) and meats, see table. Intakes from the base diet (no fortification) were low as non-consumers of any iron-fortified products, mainly infant formula/GUM and fortified breakfast cereals, had mean iron intakes ∼2·0 mg lower than consumers of iron-fortified products (4·9 vs. 6·9 mg). Consumers of iron-fortified products also had a lower prevalence of inadequate iron intakes (

While reports of inadequate vitamin D intakes among young children are widespread (1)(2)(3) , data on the prevalence of vitamin D inadequacy and deficiency are inconsistent. , 78 % were < 5 µg/d and 13 % were < 1 µg/d. Children who did not use a supplement or consume a vitamin D-fortified food had an MDI of 1·2 µg/d. The highest intakes were among consumers of vitamin D-fortified formula (7·2 µg/d) and users of vitamin D-containing supplements (8·1 µg/d). While 94 % of children sampled during winter had intakes below the EAR, the corresponding prevalence < 40 nmol/L was 24 %, which is the threshold on which the EAR is based (4) .In conclusion, we show a low prevalence of vitamin D deficiency among Irish 2-year olds despite a high prevalence of inadequate vitamin D intakes, a high latitude and self-reported adherence to sun-safe recommendations. The current EAR may be too high for young children. Nevertheless, almost half of children had a 25(OH)D concentration < 50 nmol/L during winter, indicating the need for strategies to improve vitamin D intakes in this age-group.

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Background Despite high caesarean delivery rates worldwide, limited data are available on the effect of a prior caesarean delivery on subsequent fertility. Aim To estimate the time to next birth and the risk of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy and stillbirth in women with a prior caesarean delivery compared to women with a prior vaginal delivery. Methods Using Danish registry data we identified a cohort of women giving birth between 1982 and 2010 (n = 833,162). The cohort was followed from the index birth until the next birth or censoring by death, emigration or study end (31/12/2010). Women with an index caesarean section were compared to women with an index vaginal birth by stratified Cox regression models using SAS version 9.2 Results Women with an index caesarean were less likely to have a subsequent delivery and had an increased time to next birth (HR 0.83 [95% CI 0.82, 0.84]). Sub-group analyses by smoking status, history of fertility services, maternal BMI, preterm birth & low birth weight did not modify results. Analyses for ectopic pregnancy and miscarriage showed no increased HR among women with a prior caesarean section; however a significantly increased HR for subsequent stillbirth was reported (1.16 [1.04, 1.28]). Conclusion Prior caesarean delivery, particularly elective and maternally requested caesareans were associated with an increased time to next birth. An increased hazard ratio of stillbirth in subsequent deliveries but not ectopic pregnancy or miscarriage among women with an index caesarean was also found.

Introduction:There is growing evidence that the intrauterine environment has far-reaching consequences on life-long health. Almost all studies examining this effect have relied on birth weight centile alone. The aim of this study is to describe measured body composition at birth in growth restricted infants.