Iron Deficiency Anemia is very common in children. Almost 10% of children have Iron Deficiency Anemia in the United Arab Emirates. Some children have iron deficiency without anemia. In the initial stage, they will have iron deficiency without symptoms as mentioned below. Asymptomatic Iron deficiency and Iron Deficiency Anemia can affect learning capabilities of children in the future. Moreover, it is very easy to be prevented if you plan your children’s diet appropriately. It is very easy to be tested, diagnosed and treated early.

Therefore it is important to make sure that all children have been tested between 1 and 3 years of age for Iron Deficiency Anemia and treated as per the American Association of Pediatrics recommendation.

Anemia is a condition in which the body does not have enough healthy red blood cells. Red blood cells provide oxygen to our body. Iron is essential for the production of healthy red blood cells. The lack of iron in the body leads to anemia, called Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA).

Lack of enough iron in your child’s regular food is the most common cause of Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) in your child. If you fail to start solid food containing iron at 5–6 months of age and give only milk, your baby may develop IDA by the age of one. Toddlers who drink too much cow’s milk may also become iron deficient if they are not eating other foods containing iron.

Other rare causes may be:

Food digestive pipe is not able to absorb iron well, even though your child is eating food containing enough iron.

Slow blood loss over a long period, often due to abnormal menstrual periods or bleeding in the digestive pipe.

Mild anemia may have no symptoms. At a later stage, your child may develop the following:

Become Irritable.

Eat Less Food.

Feel tired or weak all the time.

Have a sore tongue.

Have Headache or dizziness.

Very Pale White of Eyes.

Get Pale Skin.

Try to eat items other than food like Paper, Soaps.

Hb, MCV, MCH, Serum Ferritin, Serum Iron, Total Iron Binding Capacity (TIBC), and Iron Saturation.

Treatment for Iron Deficiency Anemia in your child usually involves giving iron medicine and modifying your child’s diet to increase iron levels and hemoglobin in the blood.

Doctor can prescribe iron medicine in the form of tablet or syrup. Usually, it works best when given on an empty stomach. There is no need to stop the medicine if you see your child’s stool turning black when they’re taking iron medicine.

Some children can experience side effects with iron treatment, which include:

Abdominal (Tummy) pain.

Constipation or Diarrhea.

Heartburn & Feeling Sick.

Black stools.

These side effects should settle down by a few days. If a child has troublesome side effects, you can give the medicine with a little food or shortly after eating.

Below is the list of foods rich in iron:

Dark-green leafy Vegetables

Iron-fortified cereals or bread

Brown Rice

Pulses and Beans

Nuts and Seeds

White and Red meat

Fish and Eggs

Dried fruit, such as dried apricots, dates & raisins.

Your child’s diet should include foods containing iron as mentioned above. They should also take food and drink containing vitamin C as vitamin C helps your child’s food pipe absorb more iron.

It is important that you take your child to their doctor regularly and check how well your child is responding to the treatment. Your child should continue taking iron medicine till hemoglobin levels and iron levels are normal for at least 3 months. You can see changes in your child such as eating more food, improved behavior, increased activity levels, and their skin turns a Healthy pink.

Consuming large amounts of the following foods and drinks may reduce absorption of iron:

Tea and Coffee

Calcium in dairy products such as cow’s milk.

If your child’s iron levels still haven’t improved, in spite of taking the medicine as prescribed, then your child may need further investigations to find out the reasons.