Intake of copper, iron, manganese and zinc by healthy, exclusively-breast-fed infants during the first 3 months of life.

1. The calculated median daily trace element intakes /kg of exclusively-breast-fed infants at 1, 2 and 3 months of age respectively were: copper 0.075, 0.051 and 0.043 mg; iron 0.075, 0.055 and 0.048 mg; manganese 0.9, 0.6 and 0.5 microgram; zinc 0.420, 0.215 and 0.150 mg. The latter values for Cu, Fe, and Zn intakes were in good agreement with earlier results, whereas the intake of Mn was lower. The intakes of trace elements by breast-fed infants seemed to be below the recommended dietary allowances (Food and Nutrition Board, 1973; WHO Expert Committee on Trace Elements in Human Nutrition, 1973). 2. There seems to be no information on trace element concentrations of breast milk related to the energy content. Such values are therefore included for breast milk from Finnish women for the 1st 6 months of lactation.