Children at a very early stage of growth and development are vulnerable to dietary deficiencies. This is because either they are picky eaters, or they are not provided with the right combination of nutrients in their regular meals. During these crucial years of growing up, you need to fuse in a substantive level of minerals in your child’s diet – iron, being one of the most important ones. Iron helps to produce optimum counts of red blood cells and haemoglobin in your child’s body and ensures an even flow of oxygen within the body. Iron deficiency in children tends to disrupt this flow of oxygen and causes severe impacts on a child’s body. Exhaustion, inattentiveness, pale skin, brittle nails, chest ache, muscle ache, and insomnia are some of the major symptoms of anemia in children. These may also have long-term impacts on your child if his/her iron-deficient stores are not restored to their prerequisite levels in due time.
So, what’s the best alternative to increasing your child’s iron intake? Yes, iron-rich foods contribute greatly to restoring your child’s depleted iron resources. Meals comprising of iron-rich foods such as meat, eggs, chicken, beans, dried fruits, oatmeal, and leafy vegetables along with a balanced blend of Vitamin C can help boost iron absorption levels in your child’s body. However, it is not always sufficient for kids who are too vulnerable to iron-deficiency anemia. In such cases, the next best alternative to turn to is oral iron supplementation. In fact, given the prevalence of such widespread consumption of iron-deficient diets among children, oral iron supplementation is recommended for children below 5 years of age.
Let us now understand why your child must take oral iron supplementation.
Children need a regular intake of iron-based on the following guidelines:
• Infants (7-12 months) – 7.8 mg
• Toddlers (1-3 years) – 6.9 mg
• Children (4-6 years) – 6.1 mg
• Children (7-10 years) – 8.7 mg
When your child’s dietary needs are not sufficed with the above-mentioned iron-intake, he/she tends to become more and more prone to iron deficiency anemia. To help resolve concerns of insufficient iron intake and anemia, your child needs to take an appropriate dosage of oral iron supplementation. This fills up the dietary gaps and keeps your child’s iron stores replenished. The iron present in human bodies is termed as ‘elemental iron,’ and oral iron supplements are rich in elemental iron. So, an iron supplement for kids taken in the form of capsules, tablets, drops, powders, and extended-release tablets can help in boosting iron absorption within your child’s body.
Apart from restoring depleted iron levels, iron supplements for kids also help reduce tiredness and exhaustion in your child. They help your child stay active and energetic at all hours of the day. It ensures that your child’s cognitive abilities are not impacted and he/she continues to grow a stronger immune system over the due course of time. In a nutshell, the need for iron supplementation is pivotal in anemia treatment. The good news is that the best iron supplements for kids are available in various tasty flavours today. So, luring your child into taking proper iron intakes is not even a task anymore.
Reference Source:
https://kellymom.com/nutrition/vitamins/iron/