Are you worried your fussy eater is iron deficient as they don’t eat meat?

When I speak to parents of fussy eaters, the worry that their child is iron deficient is often front of mind.

Not eating meat is common for young children. It’s a lot of chewing for very little reward. This is also part of the reason chicken nuggets and pre-cooked sausages are so popular, the meat just mushes in the mouth without a lot of effort.

I not very politely refer to it as ‘pre-chewed meat’.

They may also not eat meat as a conscious decision, even if quite young.

No meat? What next? There are many ways to boost iron intake:

Although meat sources are an easy way to obtain bio-available iron, we can of course get it from other foods.

Let’s look at some of the places where our child can obtain some iron and then, before you panic, look at some fussy eater friendly ways to add these to the diet:

1. Fortified cereals, rice, wheat, and oats

2. Legumes — beans, peas, and lentils

3. Tofu, tempeh, and soybeans

4. Nuts and seeds. Pumpkin, sesame, hemp, flaxseeds/linseeds, chia seeds, almonds, cashews, pine nuts and macadamias