KEY POINTS:
A group of toddlers will be fed specially enriched milk in a bid to reduce New Zealand's high rate of hospital admissions for children with infections.
Paediatricians at Auckland University say New Zealand performs worse than other developed countries in a range of infectious diseases and associated hospital admission rates.
In a study by the university and Tamaki Healthcare, the parents of children aged 12 to 18 months will be given nutrition advice and the toddlers fed milk containing added vitamins and minerals.
The study precedes a larger trial to test whether improving nutrition can increase children's learning ability and reduce serious infections like pneumonia and gastroenteritis.
"New Zealand has a poor record with pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses, with one of the highest rates of children admitted to hospital in the developed world," said one of the researchers, Associate Professor Cameron Grant, a paediatrician.
Among 1-year-olds, the hospital admission rate for pneumonia was 18 per 1000 from 2002 to 2006.
Preventable infectious diseases are linked to poverty, poor nutrition, overcrowded and damp housing, low rates of immunisation and the cost of access to primary healthcare.
Dr Grant said at least half of child deaths from infections internationally were attributable to poor nutrition.
"We've shown a significant proportion of young children in Auckland are deficient in iron, vitamin A or vitamin D. We know some of these nutrients in the developing world are very important for helping children fight infection."
A study by Dr Grant and colleagues showed last year that 14 per cent of Auckland children were iron deficient and he suspects zinc deficiency is common too.
A large study in India, published in the British Medical Journal last year, showed that giving young children milk fortified with micronutrients including iron and several vitamins reduced the incidence of diarrhoea and acute lower respiratory illness.
Professor Innes Asher, a paediatric respiratory specialist and spokeswoman for the Child Poverty Action Group, said in addition to New Zealand's poor international record, respiratory diseases continued to affect Pacific and Maori children and those who lived in poor areas at much higher rates than other children.
While the proportion of children living in poverty had decreased, she said, it was still greater than in the 1980s, largely because of the 1991 benefit cuts.
The action group wants the Government to restore benefits; address the working hours requirement of the Working for Families regime, which can deprive families of at least $60 a week; insulate more homes annually; and reduce the cost of doctors' visits.
AILING NATION
New Zealand compared with other developed countries:
* Pneumonia rate is 5 to 10 times higher than the United States.
* Rheumatic fever rate is 13.8 times higher than the average for countries in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
* Rate of serious skin infections is double that of Australia and the US.
SOURCE: Auckland University
