Actually, the phrase ‘kid-friendly Iron-rich foods’ is an oxymoron. Kid friendly foods can be confined to chocolates and anything that has sugar in it in huge quantities. However, it’s our responsibility to see to it that our kids are eating well and hence iron-rich foods must form part of your kid’s diet. Iron is very important in the health and development of your child. Although iron deficiency is very common among children, it’s easily preventable as well.

Iron fights anemia, and is one of the main minerals in hemoglobin. It assists the red blood cells in transporting oxygen all over the body. Iron also helps your kids stay active and think better, further enabling your child to develop immunity.

Kid-friendly Iron-rich foods:

• Generally, the foods that have Iron in abundance are lean red meat, seafood including tuna and salmon, poultry (add chicken and turkey in this), eggs, all types of lentils and beans namely kidney, lima, black, pinto and soy beans.

• Other iron-rich foods include dark green vegetables (any greens namely spinach, collard and mustard greens are rich in iron), vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, Swiss chard and Brussels sprouts

• If your child is in love with cottage cheese, try giving him / her tofu, which is a rich source of iron.

• Nuts and dried fruits such as raisins, dates, apricots and prunes are rich in iron and you will also have no trouble in making your kid eat these.

• Your kid’s daily iron needs can be met easily if you feed him / her with iron-fortified food. There are iron-fortified cereals and breads available in the supermarket and this can be fed. When you buy bread, always look for whole grain bread that is very good and nutritious.

• Don’t plainly feed your child with toast but think of a way to make sandwiches with whole grain bread. Smash broccoli or Brussels sprouts as the sandwich stuffing and grill it with cheese. No kid will say no to this combination that also provides a good supply of fiber and iron.

• Instead of sugar rich candies, treat your kid with dried fruits namely raisins, apricots, peaches and prunes. These are good sources of Iron and wean off the chocolate addiction as well.

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