Is Your Toddler Getting Enough Iron?

Shockingly, most toddlers are not getting enough iron. When a toddler does not get enough iron, it can haunt them for the rest of their lives. Causing learning and behavioral problems during childhood and adolescent years, and work and physical activity problems in the adult years. Quite literally what you put into your baby's mouth will effect them for the rest of their lives.

Iron is Essential and Easy to Get

Iron is a critical nutrient for cognitive development in toddlers. Iron helps move blood throughout the body and helps the blood make hemoglobin, the part of the red blood cells which carry oxygen. Iron is easy to obtain through food, yet severely lacking in most toddlers diets and even more so lacking in overweight toddlers and young children.

Limit Milk and Juice

To ensure your toddler is getting enough iron, start by limiting the amount of milk and juice he drinks. Both beverages are low in iron and a toddler will tend to fill up on the milk and/or juice rather than eating iron rich foods.

Include One Iron Rich Food at Each Meal

Certain foods offer for iron, bite for bite, than others. And when dealing with a finicky eating toddler, one bite may be all you can get him to eat. Choose iron rich foods like eggs and dried fruits to serve to toddlers. If your toddler enjoys eggs, serve them at other meals besides just breakfast, and dried fruit makes an excellent iron-rich, low calorie snack for active toddlers to 'graze' on throughout the day.

Leafy green vegetables like broccoli, spinach and kale are rich in iron. Look for cereals, breads, pastas and rice products which specify they are made from whole grains and are iron fortified.

Red meats like beef, lamb and pork are naturally rich in iron. So are the dark meat portions of chicken. If meat is not a favorite food for your toddler, or if you are vegetarian, the same lentils which provide protein in your diet are also rich in iron, like pinto beans, black beans, lima beans and chick peas.

Add a Food to Increase Iron Absorption

Now that you are getting iron into your toddler's stomach, make sure the body is absorbing the iron by adding a serving of food rich in vitamin C each day. Citrus fruits, strawberries, tomatoes and green bell peppers are all rich in vitamin C and will help a toddler's (and adult's) body absorb and assimilate iron.