Iron deficiency, defined as a serum ferritin level of <15 μg/l,1 has been shown to adversely affect many aspects of health and development in childhood and persistence into school age may result in sub-optimal health and academic under-achievement. National research has demonstrated that a high prevalence of anaemia in pre-school children (12%), causally linked to iron deficiency related to dietary factors, is common in areas of socioeconomic deprivation1 and particularly in children of minority ethnic parentage, especially of Pakistani origin.2 There is little information in …