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Who would guess that almost one-in-10 U.S. babies are iron deficient? That’s exactly what a new study of 2,000 children in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found. The culprit is a common practice by parents that may put their child at risk.
At every meal, 4-month-old twins Olivia and Melissa get either iron-fortified formula or breast milk.
“I [will] hopefully do this until they’re 1 and maybe to be weaned onto … regular milk or soy milk,” says their mother, Lauren Bischof.
That’s a common practice. But researchers discovered that children who drink only regular milk after age 1, are almost three times as likely to be iron deficient
“Iron deficiency can cause numerous cognitive and behavioral delays,” explains Becky Lyons, L.D., with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, “[as well as a] lower I.Q., poor test scores in children and behavior problems.
Lauren was surprised to hear that iron deficiency could ever become a problem, “Because I would have thought by then they would have had enough iron from their diet because by then they would be on solids.”
Experts say the problem is some toddlers simply drink too much regular milk.
“[Regular milk] is very low in iron and they become iron deficient,” says Lyons. “They’re full from all that milk and therefore they’re not consuming iron-rich foods that they should be consuming.”
While it’s important for toddlers to drink milk, experts say parents should limit cow’s milk to two cups a day.
After that, “If it’s not breast milk, it should be iron-fortified formula,” says Lyons.
And if your toddler already drinks a lot of regular milk, Lyons says get them checked.
“It is very important for these children to be evaluated by their pediatrician and have their blood tested … and see if they are indeed anemic,“ she adds. “And if they are, the pediatrician [can] prescribe the appropriate amount of iron supplement.”
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