Child Care Nutritional Articles

Child Care Nutritional Articles

iron-rich meal plan

“ I have two children, a four year old and a two-and-a-half year old. Both eat very little meat. They gag on meat and always see it, even if I try and hide it in their food. How can I get iron into them?”

Sometimes getting iron into young children can be difficult, especially if they are fussy eaters and don’t eat the important iron-rich foods such as meat and certain vegetables. In New Zealand, iron deficiency is one of the most common diet-related conditions in children.

If there is insufficient iron supplied in your child’s diet, their body will make less haemoglobin (the red colour in the blood) which carries oxygen in the blood to the body’s tissues and organs. Iron is important for the immune system, for fighting infections, and is needed for growth and intellectual development in children.

Iron deficiency in children can cause restlessness, sleeping difficulties, irritability and tiredness, and if it goes on to develop anaemia, children will often be pale, feel lethargic, feel the cold more easily and be prone to infections.

It is recommended that children aged one to 11 years get 6-8mg of iron daily.

Dietary iron comes from both animal meat and plant foods. The iron found in animal food (haem) is better absorbed than the iron found in plant based foods (non-haem). Because young children often eat small meals, ideally the food they eat should contain haem iron. Absorption of iron from non-haem iron foods such as breads, cereals and green leafy vegetables can be greatly increased when a food containing vitamin C is eaten at the same time.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Breakfast

1 Weetbix

Milk

1 slice wholemeal toast

Peanut butter

½ cup porridge with dried apricots

1 slice wholemeal toast

Honey

Dippy egg

Wholemeal toast fingers

50ml orange juice diluted with 100ml water

Morning Tea
2 plain biscuits, Mandarin Bite size wholemeal fruit bar
2 plain biscuits

Mandarin

Lunch

Baked Bean toastie (wholemeal bread)

50ml orange juice diluted with 100ml water

2 wholemeal bread

Marmite & cheese

Mandarin

1 beef sausage

Tomato sauce

1 wholemeal bread

100ml water

Afternoon Tea
Banana Small box of raisins 5 prunes

Dinner

Chicken & vegetable casserole with chicken-liver pate stirred through

Kumara wedges

Crumbed beef schnitzel

Mashed potato with spinach & parsley,

Carrots

5-6 small mince meatballs in

tomato-vegetable pasta sauce

1 cup pasta

Supper
Small scope of frozen yoghurt

Jelly & fruit

¼ cup custard

Fruit

If you are concerned about your child’s iron status, it is best to see your doctor for advice.

(The above article was prepared by - Nikki Hart, NZ Registered Dietitian)

the following is a list of the iron content of various foods -
Source AUSNUT – Australian Food and Nutrient Database, ANZFA, 1999

Our bodies only absorb small amounts of iron at any one time, so ideally it is important to eat iron-rich foods throughout the day and every day. By eating a varied diet, most children can meet their daily requirements.

Red meat e.g. fillet steak (100g) - 3.7mg
Breakfast cereal with added iron, average serve - 3.0mg
Lentils, dried peas or beans, 2/3 cup cooked - 2.5mg
Cashews, 25 nuts (50g) - 2.5mg
Soy burger, iron fortified (60g) - 2.2mg
Marmite, 1 teaspoon (5g) - 1.8mg
Wholegrain bread, 1 slice (34g) - 1.6mg
Dried apricots, 10 halves (50g) - 1.6mg
Baked beans, 100g - 1.6mg
Bok choy, ½ cup (100g) - 1.3mg
Tofu, 1 block, cooked (100g) - 1.2mg
Fish e.g. canned red salmon ½ cup (100g) - 1.2mg
Rolled oats, dry, 1/3 cup (30g) - 1.1mg
Prunes, 7 pieces (50g) - 1.1mg
Wheatgerm, 1 tablespoon (10g) - 1.0mg
Almonds, 20-25 nuts (25g) - 1.0mg
Egg, poached (50g) - 1.0mg
Broccoli, cooked 2/3 cup (100g) - 1.0mg
Sunflower seeds, 1 tablespoon (15g) - 0.7mg
Wholemeal bread, 1 slice (30g) - 0.7mg
Chicken, skinless, baked (80g) - 0.6mg
White bread, 1 slice (28g) - 0.3mg

Further Child Care Nutritional Articles

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