Chicken nuggets - only 4% of iron in SEVEN nuggets! I need ideas for young children pls!

[Anonymous]

We have this applegates chicken nuggets at home and I was checking the label today for how much iron there is in a serving (and saving size) and was bummed it is so little. Plus, 7 nuggets is a lot! My child could certainly eat all seven, but then she would probably not have any room for veggies and fruits. I usually give her 3 or 4.

At dinner she usually has some type of meat, usually chicken (cooked by me). But for example, yesterday I served some chicken breast stew and she had like 5 or 6 small (bite) pieces. There is usually the amount of meat she eats and it seems pretty normal to me given the rest of the meal and her size.

But now I am wondering if she is getting enough iron? How do you people make sure your kids are getting enough iron?

She eats lots of veggies - celery, carrots, bell pepper, broccoli, salads (greens), etc. I also don't serve any milk with her meals, besides breakfast.

Tia!

[Anonymous]

Red meat, so meatballs or meatloaf

[Anonymous]

How old is your child? Does she have an iron deficiency? If not, I wouldn't worry so much. Children don't need huge amounts of iron -- just what is proportional to their size.

[Anonymous]

Red meat, dark leafy greens, legumes, peanut butter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old is your child? Does she have an iron deficiency? If not, I wouldn't worry so much. Children don't need huge amounts of iron -- just what is proportional to their size.

I wouldn't worry either. My children eat next to no meat. As far as I know, their iron levels are fine.

[Anonymous]

Is there a reason you are so worried? Iron deficiency is pretty rare -- even among vegetarians. I'm a vegetarian and only had it when I was pregnant (which is common).

[Anonymous]

http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/food-sources-of-iron.php

http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/fruits-and-vegetables-high-in-iron.php

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How old is your child? Does she have an iron deficiency? If not, I wouldn't worry so much. Children don't need huge amounts of iron -- just what is proportional to their size.

She is 4 and has no iron deficiency that I know of. I am asking about that because we had her well visit last week and the doctor asked how is her iron intake and I said she eats some type of meat at least once a day. But I got kind of curious….

How does iron work in the body? Do we need a daily intake or just to keep a certain level? What I mean is, if I don't eat any or very little iron the whole week, but on Friday I eat some beef liver - does that make up for it?

I am just wondering if it is something I have to worry everyday and start serving read meat often or we can just keep doing what we have been doing….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How old is your child? Does she have an iron deficiency? If not, I wouldn't worry so much. Children don't need huge amounts of iron -- just what is proportional to their size.

She is 4 and has no iron deficiency that I know of. I am asking about that because we had her well visit last week and the doctor asked how is her iron intake and I said she eats some type of meat at least once a day. But I got kind of curious….

How does iron work in the body? Do we need a daily intake or just to keep a certain level? What I mean is, if I don't eat any or very little iron the whole week, but on Friday I eat some beef liver - does that make up for it?

I am just wondering if it is something I have to worry everyday and start serving read meat often or we can just keep doing what we have been doing….

Why don't you google some phrase along the lines of "what foods have iron?" and then look at the results and see which of those foods your children would like, and then serve those? Meat may have iron, but it also serves a dose of high cholesterol.

[Anonymous]

Iron absorption is tightly regulated and your body tries to absorb what you need and not more (under normal circumstances) from your diet/supplements. I think once a week iron in the form of beef liver is more than enough but that would also depend on your body. Iron from meat (heme iron) is the most readily absorbed.

It is explained better here than I could. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_iron_metabolism

[Anonymous]

Make a fruit smoothie in a high end blender (sorry, high end like Vitamix makes a difference) and throw in a couple of handfuls of spinach.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Iron absorption is tightly regulated and your body tries to absorb what you need and not more (under normal circumstances) from your diet/supplements. I think once a week iron in the form of beef liver is more than enough but that would also depend on your body. Iron from meat (heme iron) is the most readily absorbed.

It is explained better here than I could. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_iron_metabolism

Thanks! And to other pps as well.

[Anonymous]

Pop a Flinstones vitamin with iron.

[Anonymous]

Do you have anything against red meat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you have anything against red meat?

Besides the price? No! It is delicious. But we eat mostly chicken with the occasional red meat and fish.