This article updates a 2011 systematic review that assessed the impact of home fortification of foods with micronutrient powders (MNP) on nutrition, health, and developmental outcomes in children under 2 years of age. It covered 29 studies on 33,147 children in low- and middle-income countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean where anemia is prevalent. The review concluded that home fortification is effective in reducing anemia and iron deficiency and that giving children younger than two MNP appears to be better than providing nothing or a placebo. The impact on early childhood development is unclear however. Researchers suggest further investigation of morbidity outcomes, including those related to malaria and diarrhea, is needed.
Suchdev, Parminder S., M.E.D. Jefferds, E. Ota, et al. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2: CD008959, February 2020