Natural Ways to Boost Your Child's Energy Levels Due to Low Iron

Parents look to have a healthy children with high energy levels. But there comes a time when our children fall a little short in that area. Whether they are coming down with an illness or they just so happen to be extra tired. Daily activities can play a huge part in how they feel as a whole. Or course, there is a huge possibility that your child may suffer from anemia as well. And as parents it's our job to keep their energy and iron at a decent level for a healthy existence.

What is Iron deficiency?

Iron deficiency is when the body doesn't have enough iron. Iron transports the oxygen from your blood cells to your lungs and the rest of your body in form of hemoglobin. Iron is the most important nutrient for a strong immune system. If your child has low iron, their body makes fewer and smaller blood cells, which in turn causes fatigue and weakness.

There are many things that you can do to keep your child's iron levels up, Whether it's choosing healthier meals or implementing vitamins in their diet, there will always be options worth considering.

One of the best known ways to maintain your child's energy is making sure that they are getting enough iron in their diet. According to the Nutrition Canada Survey ," Iron is one of the nutrients at risk." The bottom line is that most children and adults don't get the right amount of iron that they need to keep their body in a healthy state. Low iron can cause dizziness, fatigue, poor diet, weight loss, headaches, a pale appearance , as well as irritability. To make sure that your child isn't suffering from low iron, you may want to take your child to his or her pediatrician to get a hemoglobin test. They will get their blood count tested to make sure that their iron levels are decent. If you find that your child has been suffering from low iron, their doctor may want to prescribe iron tablets for them to take on an everyday basis.

If you are one of those parents who believe that you can easily raise your child's energy levels without prescription medications, then you can easily try these natural remedies to get the ball rolling. It may be pertinent that you give your child the tablets offered by their doctor, depending on how low their iron levels are. Once you get their levels up, you can begin supplementing the tablets with natural iron boosters.

Children between the ages of 1-8 need at least 7mg of iron a day, and at the most they can get 10mg daily. If you have a child that is between the ages of 9-18 then their dose will be slightly higher. They will received between 8 to 15mg daily.

Diversify your child's meals

The one thing you can try giving your child to boost their energy levels due to low iron is bringing diversity to their meals. There isn't one food alone that you can give your child that will give them the iron they need. But you can feed them meats, cereal, eggs, lentil, leafy vegetables, beans, legumes and whole grains. Your child may have a hard time absorbing the iron from iron-fortified foods, so you can simply give them Beta-Carotene. This will help your child absorb the iron from the foods that you give them.

Try implementing a multi-vitamin into their diets. Flinstone Vitamins are great because they have the right amount of iron that is needed for your child to maintain the right amount of iron.

Changing your child's diet and adding more iron-fortified food items, will help to boost their energy levels due to low iron. Your child needs this very important mineral to function properly and as parent's it's our duty to make sure that they continue thrive and survive.

List of Sources

Medlineplus,"Natural/912", Medline plus

Justine Kim, "Natures energy boost ," The Soko

Beth W.Orenstein"How much iron do kids need," Everyday Health