Iron is best known for helping red blood cells transport oxygen around the body as an essential element in haemoglobin.
The body is able to store some iron but growth and menstruation deplete these reserves, therefore it’s important to ensure that children have enough iron rich food each day to keep their levels up.
Which foods are rich in iron?
There are two kinds of iron that can be found in foods; haem (which is easily absorbed by the body) and non-haem (which is less easily absorbed by the body).
Some excellent sources of haem iron include lean red meat, chicken and fish. Generally, the darker the meat, the more iron it contains (e.g. brown meat of chicken is richer in iron than the breast).
Non-haem iron is found in foods such as fortified breakfast cereals, beans and lentils, wholegrain bread, dried apricots, green peas and spinach.
If you are a vegetarian or vegan, then this will limit your choices to foods containing less easily absorbed non-haem iron. However, including plenty of fruit and vegetables that are rich in Vitamin C will help in the absorption of iron.
