Iron-rich Foods for Kids

Iron helps people to stay healthy. They develop red blood cells which carry oxygen around all the cells in the body. Therefore, it is of extra importance that children get enough iron into their system as their body is constantly developing. It is necessary to know which foods carry the most iron to help keep your child in good health.

Milk for Infants

• Small children, aged six months and under, can get the iron they require through breast milk. Children who are not being breast fed should receive milk formula that is iron-fortified. From the age of six months to 1 year, you can introduce iron-fortified cereal into a baby's diet.

Fresh Fruit

• Fruit is a huge source of iron for the human body, so children should have at least three fruits a day in order to ensure they are getting the iron they need. Fruits with especially high iron content are strawberries, blackcurrants, passion fruit, pomegranate and raspberries.

Meat

• Eating meat is the best way to get a high level of iron into your body. For children, healthier choices would be to give them lean red meat. To make it something they would like to eat, put the meat in a bun, dress it up and call it a hamburger. Green leaves also contain high levels of iron, so add those to the burger. Dark poultry is another healthy choice.

Beans

• Beans are good sources of iron as well. These include kidney beans, lima beans and dried peas and beans. They are safe for a toddler to eat by themselves so you can give it to them directly to a child as a healthy snack. Alternatively you could put the kidney beans in a chilli corn carne if the child does not like the taste of the beans on their own.

Little Healthy Snacks

• Dates and eggs are also a good source and can be given to the child as a little treat, depending on what they prefer. Dates are sweet to taste, so children tend to like them, and hard boiled eggs have long been a healthy snack preferred by mothers.