A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggested that enriched egg yolks could improve the level of essential nutrients in weaning infants.

The study involved 137 infants about 6 months of age. The infants were randomly sorted into three groups that received either normal egg yolks, egg yolks from chickens that were fed a diet rich in n-3 fatty acids, or no egg yolk at all.

Researchers then measured levels of both iron and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA). Breast milk tends to have a low iron content, while children formula fed children tend to have lower levels of DHA (which is important for brain development — many formula makers now fortify their formula with DHA).

Both breast and formula-fed infants who were given the DHA-enriched egg yolks experienced 30 to 40 percent higher DHA levels than those fed the normal egg yolks. Both groups increased their iron levels.

As a BBC report on the study noted, egg yolks have the advantage of containing heme iron, which is more easily absorbed than iron from vegetables, as well as being soft enough for babies to eat.

Source:

Egg boost for babies. The BBC, May 23, 2002.