help for 3.5yr diet (aneamic and protein deficient)

mutley74 · 28 April 2005 at 9:12PM

Our 3.5 yr old son has been diagnosed by the GP as aneamic and protein deficient via blood test. This is because his stomach has been bloated for a few weeks. He has eczema and is vegetarian (like the rest of us in the family).
GP has prescribed some iron syrup to help.

I am not asking for medical advice or specific advice, but any ideas, suggestions maybe as parents we can consider for feeding our son.
As he has eczema he cannot eats nuts and has to be careful in general.

As being a kid is very fusy to eat and difficult to feed. Please can anyone suggest any ideas on what we can feed him, or ideas or to encourage more iron rich and protein food in his diet?
(We are waiting for to speak to a health advisor, but in the meantime need some help).
thanks

apologies to MSE team as i requested health advice which does not fall under money saving health.

Savvy_Sue · 28 April 2005 at 9:31PM

Chocolate is rich in iron ...

Best to combine it with vitamin C, so Terry's Chocolate Oranges are useful!

Have a look at Ted's posts in the Super foods thread, and see if that helps at all. I'd start by trying to make sure he eats more of the things he does like which are good for him, and hope he doesn't go off them! Try not to make a big deal about things: if he susses you're wound up when he won't try something, he won't try it if he wants to wind you up (and lovely as they are, they all wind us up sometimes!) There've been a few posts in the Marriages, Relationships and Familes Board about fussy eaters, so they may help as well.

Can the Vegetarian Society offer advice?

Good luck!

Ted_Hutchinson · 28 April 2005 at 10:11PM

The World's Healthiest Foods: A-Z
is a good place to start checking which foods would suit iron and protein deficiency.
If you use the search facility on here it should bring up a list of food sources for that item. ie
protein: foodsources
iron: foodsources
I'd try foods which can be pureed. Avocados can be mushed up and used as a spread. Sweet potatoes also cook down to an easy eating texture.

You can make Hummus spread out of Soya beans instead of chick peas. You could go easy on the garlic and perhaps use tomatoe puree/ketchup to flavour it.
Don't forget eggs are a good protein source.
There are some ideas for childrens meals using Potatoes here that might make a change.

crana999 · 29 April 2005 at 9:38AM

What's a typical day's food like for him at the moment?

Magentasue · 29 April 2005 at 11:02AM

Vitamin C helps with iron absorption so simple things like fresh orange juice with a boiled egg might help. Seems to remember dried apricots are good too - would he eat fruit cake? Or bread and butter pudding? These can be a way of feeding eggs to children.

As crana said, it would be helpful if you told us what meals he has and what he likes and dislikes.

I don't know much about eczema - are nuts always a problem? We're a vegetarian family and they have eaten nuts since they were babies. One gets patches of eczema now and again but never around Christmas when we eat more nuts than ever!

Savvy_Sue · 29 April 2005 at 11:12AM

Magentasue wrote:

I don't know much about eczema - are nuts always a problem?

No. National Eczema Society - very helpful!

mutley74 · 1 May 2005 at 7:45PM

thanks for the tips so far. We are trying to give our son more beans and pulses and some eggs now. Are also considering maybe offering fish fingers to help him.
thanks

tom_and_barbara_good · 3 May 2005 at 8:02PM

If your son likes milky puddings like banana custard or blancmange you can 'beef it up' by using powdered milk but use twice as much milk powder than they say on the pack. That way he gets twice as much of the protein and calcuim than if you had used ordinary milk

Yoga_Girl · 3 May 2005 at 8:29PM

Do you own a juicer? Juicing fruit and veg is a good way to provide an "instant" dose of vitamins.

Seeds are also a good source of iron, for example sunflower seeds. These can be toasted or left plain and added to breakfast cereals. Home-made museli is a good way to mix in lots of dried fruit and seeds, if you soak it in milk overnight then add some grated apple in the morning it becomes quite sweet and soft and easy for children to eat.

Dried apricots can be soaked and pureed, then used as a topping for ice-cream. You can also make your own dried fruit compote by gently simmering dried fruit (apricots, prunes, sultanas etc) which is nice stirred into yoghurts.

I carry a tub with sultanas and soft dried apricots with me whenever we got out, the children have got used to this being their snack.

Changing habits sometimes takes time but children do adapt quickley once a new regime becomes "the norm". Good luck!

Sarahsaver · 3 May 2005 at 9:09PM

Are you sURE he cannot eat nuts? i.e has it been confirmed by a qualified medical professional? I was a veggie when i had my daughter, but during pregnancy no. 2 i was anaemic and no amount of tablets would level it, so i ate meat - lots of it. IMHO i will leave it up to my kids now to decide if they want to be veggie later in life. My skin heals quicker since eating meat again!
My ds no.1 has eczema which was helped by a couple of months' goats milk instead of cows milk. It was miraculous but he got a bit smelly! goats milk makes your body and wee smell of goat.The same son used to get a rash on eating nuts but he can now eat them with no problem.
A true moneysaving tip is that tinned tuna and sardines are better for you than fishfingers, and you could always make fishcakes from these things.
All the best x

Smiley_Mum · 3 May 2005 at 9:51PM

I came across this website that may be of interest regarding iron rich foods, some suitable for vegans/vegetarians -

http://www.bloodbook.com/iron-foods.html

Good Luck!

help for 3.5yr diet (aneamic and protein deficient)

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