Anaemia and iron status outcome procedures
A trained professional nurse collected capillary blood samples by means of finger and/or heel prick at baseline and endpoint. Hb was measured on the day of blood collection using a portable Hb HemoCue Hb 201+ system (Angelholm, Sweden). In addition to these, blood samples were collected into lithium heparin Microvette® CB 300 (Sarstedt), centrifuged for 10 min at 2000 g and separated for plasma, aliquoted into 0·2 ml Eppendorf tubes, cooled to ∼6°C and transported on the same day on ice packs in a cooler for storage at –80°C at the Centre of Excellence for Nutrition’s laboratory until analysis. Plasma ferritin (PF) to assess body iron stores and plasma soluble transferrin receptor (sTfR) and inflammatory markers, C-reactive protein and 