Anemia

Does she drink lots of milk? Calcium blocks the absorbtion of iron. My daugther, at age 2, became anemic because she drank so much milk. We cut back on the milk and the anemia went away.

An easy way to add iron to a childs diet is with fresh spinich. Chopped up, raw spinich can be added to just about anything=scrambled eggs, soups, meatballs, pasta dishes, sandwiches, even home made cookies, cakes and other baked goods. It adds lots of iron, is easily digested, and nearly undetectable by picky eaters.

Both of my kids were low at one time or another, our Ped. wasn't concerned, just asked me to include some of the following foods in their diets.

Foods High in Iron
List of Iron Rich Foods

Iron Rich Foods

Beef, Pork, Lamb (Pick red meats that are lean)
Green Leafy Vegetables: Spinach, Asparagus, Broccoli, Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, Kale, Turnip Greens, Parsley, Cabbage
Certain fortied foods: Cereals, Oatmeal, Pasta, Rice, Grits
Liver, Tofu, Barley, Fish: Tuna Potato

Foods High In Iron

Salmon, Shrimp, Tuna, Oysters, Clams, and most kinds of seafood.
Most kind of Dried Beans: Lima Beans, Kidney Beans, Navy Beans, Soy Beans, Chick Beans, Pinto Beans, Black Eye Beans
Nuts: Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Sunflower Seeds, Sesame, Tahini
Dried Fruits: Apricots, Rasins, Dates - Prunes, Figs
Turkey, Chicken, Egg Yolks

My second son was diagnosed with anemia at the age of 3. I was stunned, because he was my most healthy, robust child. The doctor suggested everything under the sun and a zillion more tests, but I have to say I was skeptical. We did nothing but add more green, leafy veggies and salmon to our diet, I gave more dried apricots as snacks as well as serving oatmeal for breakfast once in awhile, and at his next check-up everything was fine. He is 23 now and that crazy diagnosis of anemia when he was three is just a surreal memory. :0)

Hi Jenna,

My daughter was diagnosed with anemia at the age of 2. The iron rich diet did not work for her so she had to take iron supplements. The other mommies gave you wonderful iron-rich food ideas. I just want to add two things. Do not give your daughter too much milk. Our doctor suggested that and cutting back her milk intake really made a difference for my daughter. The other thing, if she needs to take iron supplement, make sure that she brushes her teeth right afterwards. Iron supplement can leave nasty yellow stain on teeth.

Hope it helps

M.
www.royaldanceparty.com

Jenna-
Mung Bean sprouts are very high in iron and taste like fresh garden peas. My children prefer them when they have just begun to sprout (before the long noodle looking thing you find in Chinese food). They are inexpensive if you sprout them yourself and are ready in one to two days.
Good luck!

Hi Jenna,

While serving your daughter foods rich in iron, also include foods rich in vitamin C: they help the iron absorb!

Also, you might want to look at a product called "Floradix" found at most health food stores. It is a liquid supplement made entirely from fruits and herbs with a high iron content,a nd it helps boost iron more safely than iron supplements, without the digestive upset that one can get from the over-the-counter supplements. It tastes sweet, too, so children won't find it objectionable.

Best of luck,

S. I., L.Ac.
Lotus Wellspring Healthcare
456 E. Mission Road, Suite 100
San Marcos, CA 92069
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____@____.com
www.lotuswellspring.com

My advice is to give her food-based iron. Typical iron supplements are hard to digest and assimilate (and often cause constipation). There are some great food-based supplements out there. For instance Floradix "Iron plus Herbs", Megafood's "Blood Builder". And, of course, foods themselves!

In addition, there are herbs that are very high in good, assimilable iron. For instance- nettle. Nettle makes a tasty tea. You could add red raspberry, which also tastes good and is high in iron.

Best of luck to you!

A.

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A. Salazar-Dunbar, Master Herbalist
Herbal/Nutritional Consultations in San Diego
Classes available locally or online and FREE Newsletter!
http://www.thenaturalife.com/herbalist
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awesome food list! also... because every natural bit helps... please look into cooking foods in a pure cast iron skillet!

Don't feel bad, I'm pretty sure it's genetic though it can be fixed with diet. My mom was anemic as a child, and so was I. I did take iron supplements when I was very young, I'm not sure for how long. As I got older, I learned to eat prunes, leafy greens, broccoli, and red meat (though I really don't care much for red meat as I find it difficult to digest). There are many, many food sources as the great list from the first poster attests. Good luck, I'm sure it's the more common form that your daughter has, and diet definitely does make a difference (even throughout my pregnancy, I asked to be tested and came out fine). I also think kids outgrow it somehow, because I haven't been anemic since I was a child.

Our son had the same problem - iron deficiancy that we were able to reverse with diet and Enfamil supplement drops. We discovered that he was drinking too much milk during the day and the calcium was impacting the iron absorbtion. At age 2 we had not been giving him juice - but we introduced a small cup of orange juice and found it hid the taste of the drops. Be sure to check with your doctor about the dosage of the drops - although they are usually over-the-counter - too much iron can also be damaging for young children. Our pharmacy/grocery store had to special order the drops but we did not need a perscription.
Our doctor also gave us a list of foods with higher iron content and we tried to build meals and snacks that included them on a more regualr basis. Try Goldfish, raisins, and a dry ceral high in iron as a trailmix type snack. Have to really brush the teeth after the raisins but our son loved this - and the raisins & goldfish have suprisingly high amont of iron! We are not big red meat eaters and it turns out that ther are many foods with high or higher iron than beef - unlike my grandmother had always said! We ate a lot of turkey meatballs and had Total cereal for breakfast. (My son prefers Cheerios - so we had did a mix of the two as a compromise.)
We learned that because he had only breastfed, never had formula or showed any interest in the iron fortafied cereal - he did not build up large stores of iron. So even though he had been eating very well - we needed to make the extra push to get the iron in him! But all is well with him now - we had too really watch his diet from age 2-4 and now at 5 his levels are consistently where they need to be...

The best to you and your family. I would start by getting some cast iron pans, and use them for most of your cooking. They are inexspensive, and better than any non-stick pan ever was. As long as you season them correctly, and keep them from soaking for prolonged periods of time, all is well. The dr. will prob recogmend a Iron fortifided vitamin. The more dark leafy greens the better! this can be difficult to achieve for an adult, let alone a three year old! Try spiralina in Orange juice. Iron needs Vit C to be absorbed into the body! An egg whole wheat toast and OJ in the a.m. is great Iron fortified meal. egg yokes have iron.
Best of luck to you, M.

Hello Jenna.
I want to mention that for the most part anemia usually doesn't strike people that are thing, I for one consider myself a "big bone" girl and was diagnosed as having anemia. After a ferw years of getting my hemoglobins controled & taking iron pills & eating lots of greens, I no longer am an enemic, BUT my daughter, at 17 yrs of age was diagnosed with the same thing, we are talking a 5'4" -115 lbs girl, very athletic and enthus about anything and everything in life. Her Dr recommended she take the same iron pills I was taking then, of course there was a bit of a side effect for her, as these were making her constipated, she was changed to a lower dosage. Her ped. suggested she eat a lot of greens spinach for the most part, beans etc. She was a stage that if not taken care of properly, it would have eventually developed intp leukimia, but thankfully she followed the drs advise and is now ok. Like your daughter, my daughter & myself have to go every so often to have our hemoglobin checked, and so far they've been good. I would suggest following your Dr's advise by the dot & yes, pray to God it doesn't become anything more serious. The best of luck to the both of you.
DCG

cream of wheat has a TON of iron, serve it w/ raisens-and it will help.

good luck

I'm not sure what to say except to give you a heads up that sometimes the iron pills/suppliments (if she has to take any) can affect the teeth. Make sure you talk to her dentist to see if there is anything special you can do to prevent discoloration in her teeth.

When my daughter was young (maybe 3) she too was diagnosed. and, we were told to give her iron rich foods and/or a supplement. We did for a year. And, at the next annual exam, they said it wasn't necessary anymore. She's never had a problem since and she's 16 now. It should be fine. Good luck.

That is an awesome list! Now, just get her to eat them! I found this recipe for spinach brownies (yes! spinach in the brownie!) and you can't even taste it! http://www.parents.com/recipes/cooking/family-favorites/s...

I've read that if you give iron supplements that this could help with anemia. I had to take them when I was pregnant. This can be very constipating though. So up the water and fiber intake while you are upping the iron intake.

Good luck!

Hello, Jenna,

I am a nutrition coach and I have had exceptional success with anemia and utilizing food grade resources for putting the body back into balance. Please feel free to contact me if you are interested.

Please don't worry. This is not difficult to remedy.

My very best,

T.

We had this same issue with my younger son at his 18 month check up. I limited his milk intake (the doctor felt he was filling up on milk, then not hungry for other food) and paid very close attention to iron in foods. Oatmeal is a great source of iron, so I would make that for him often. I would cook the oats in soy milk (for extra iron), add a little cinnamon and honey, and raisins (which also have iron). I would make a large batch so it would last a little while and give that to him several times a week, and he loves it. He loves to snack on raisins, so I made sure I always had those on hand (little boxes for the car), and Cheerios are high in iron, too, but I don't know how helpful that is since I'm pretty sure it is an "additive" and I always hear that it is easier for you body to absorb the nutrients from natural sources. I made an effort to have him eat more red meat and chicken, but those things are hard for a little guy to chew, so I had to be creative (he likes meatloaf and breaded chicken pieces I found from Omaha Steaks). Eggs are also a good source, and my little guy loves scrambled eggs, so that was helpful.

With the focus on these food in his diet, his hemoglobin was back to a normal level a month or so later when we had him tested. We just had him tested again at his 2 year check up and he is fine!

I hope this helps and that your daughter's levels will be back to normal with food sources only!

Squeeze lemon on red meat, because vitamin C helps with the absorbtion of iron. ALso, Raw Tahini (sesame seeds) has a lot of iron. I spread it on waffles or pancakes and my son loves it. It is a different taste though. One more thing that seems to help is to make sure that your child is very active, because good blood circulation is important. Look online for a list of high iron foods. Someone told me almonds and raisins, but I am not too sure about that.

Good Luck...