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Iron is an essential mineral which is required for cells to store and carry oxygen in the blood. Iron deficiency anaemia is the condition when your baby or child has a lack of iron and it leads to a reduction in the number of red blood cells in the body.
If your baby or child has been diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia or you think they may have iron deficiency, our dietitians can help advise on how to increase iron through their diet. To speak to one of our team please contact us.
If your baby or child has iron deficiency anaemia, they may not exert symptoms until their stores are very low. Symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia are:
This list of symptoms above is not exhausted. If your baby or child has one or more of these symptoms described, they could have iron deficiency anaemia. To talk to our dietitians to see if they can help please contact us.
During your pregnancy vitamins and minerals are passed on to your baby for them to store and use. During the first few month of life your baby is using their iron stores they acquired during pregnancy, but between 4-6 months of life these start to become depleted. From 4-6 months of life, foods containing iron must be included in the weaning diet to ensure their iron levels are top up, if they are not they can develop iron deficiency anaemia. If your baby or child has had a period of illness and their nutritional intake has reduced it may also cause short term iron deficiency anaemia. It can be more difficult for vegetarian babies and children to get a good source of iron as iron from vegetarian foods are less easily absorbed.
Our dietitians will assess your baby or child’s dietary intake to ensure they are receiving adequate nutrition and energy to grow and develop properly. Prolonged iron deficiency anaemia can cause faltering growth, failure to thrive and developmental delay. Our dietitians can give tailored dietetic advice to ensure your baby or child increases their iron uptake to reach their optimum growth and development potential.
Treatment for your baby or child’s iron deficiency anaemia will be to get the optimum nutrients from the food they are eating. Our dietitians will give tailored advice to ensure your baby or child is receiving the iron they need to grow and develop. There are many ways in which to increase the iron uptake within your baby or child’s diet and we can work with feeding difficulties such as picky or fussy eating or food aversion.
If your baby or child has been diagnosed with iron deficiency anaemia or you think they may be at risk and would like help and advice from a specialist paediatric dietitian we can help. To book an assessment please contact us.
