Vegan parents just like yourself want to ensure that they’re meeting their kids nutritional requirements. You want to have peace of mind that you’re providing everything that your child needs to thrive on a vegan diet. 

After all, your vegan child’s overall health and well-being is a priority to you. In fact, over the past few years in working with vegan families, I’ve noticed that meeting iron requirements for their vegan kids is one of the top priorities.  

Most recently, a concerned vegan parent reached out about her child having low iron levels. I can understand hearing this news from a healthcare provider can bring up a lot of questions and emotions, such as feeling uncertain about your meal planning, guilt that you may have “caused” this, or simply unsupported throughout this process. 

As a parent myself, I understand what it’s like to experience such feelings. If you’ve followed me for a while on my Instagram account, you’ve probably heard numerous times about my story of feeling nervous when my daughter had her iron levels checked at the age of 12 months old. Prior to our visit to the pediatrician, I was experiencing all sorts of emotions and no matter how much I told myself to stay calm, I couldn’t help but already take the blame for not doing “enough” to meet her iron needs on a vegan diet. 

While my daughter’s iron levels came back within normal limits, I know how challenging (and perhaps nerve wracking) it is to face this experience—especially when everything gets blamed on a vegan diet. 

That’s exactly what this parent who reached out to me experienced. Her vegan child’s pediatrician indicated that it must’ve been the vegan diet that led her child to have low iron levels. This parent simply didn’t have the support needed to move forward with confidence. Instead, this parent was left feeling lost, confused and overwhelmed on what to do to boost her vegan child’s iron. 

I want you to feel supported of your choice in raising a vegan family but more than anything, I want you to have the support to feed your vegan kids with more clarity and confidence. And that’s what I want to help you with in this post so that you can meet your vegan child’s iron requirements.

Iron Requirements for Vegan Kids

Iron from plant-based foods can certainly meet a child’s iron needs. Many non-vegan individuals, especially healthcare professionals, continue to recommend meat and other animal-based foods to families to help kids meet their iron requirements. 

However, animal-based foods are not necessary to meet iron requirements and support growth. Plant-based foods are just as capable of meeting nutrient requirements for children. In fact, studies suggest that kids who follow a vegetarian or vegan diet meet or exceed their iron requirements (1, 5).  So, if you’ve ever been told that your child cannot meet their iron requirements on a vegan diet, that simply is not true. 

Iron is a very important nutrient for vegan kids. It’s a nutrient that should be of focus in your meal planning and this is because iron’s primary role is to carry oxygen throughout our bodies.

Kids are rapidly growing and they need adequate iron to support proper growth and development. While infancy and adolescence are a time of growth when iron is largely needed, it’s an important nutrient throughout early childhood—whether a child follows a vegan diet or another dietary pattern.

Iron-Rich Plant Foods

Many parents often ask what foods are high in iron that they can offer to their vegan kids. There are a variety of plant-based foods like seeds, grains, and legumes that offer non-heme iron but the greatest sources come from legumes. These are going to be beans, lentils, split peas, and soy foods.

Let’s take a look at some of my favorite plant-based foods that are high in iron and help meet this key nutrient for vegan kids.

1. Chickpeas

   Chickpeas are such a versatile legume for meal planning. Not only can you offer them as is in pasta dishes, grain bowls or soups but you can also use other products that are made from chickpeas, like hummus and garbanzo bean flour.
   
   Hummus is something I like to recommend to families because it’s appropriate for all stages of growth—infancy, toddlerhood, and childhood.
   
   When my daughter was a baby, I would pre-load her gootensil with hummus and offer it as part of a meal. Now that she’s a toddler, she enjoys hummus as a dip with crackers, pretzels, or veggies. It’s a favorite snack for us!
   
   

2. Tofu

   Tofu. Of course I’d list tofu if we’re vegan. It can be used in so many ways which is why it’s a staple in my household (and perhaps also in yours already).
   
   Tofu is a soy-based legume that provides iron for kids. It also happens to offer other nutrients like fat and calcium, which is why I love recommending it for little ones because it supports their growth.
   
   Now, you may wonder whether it’s true or not that soy foods like tofu provide estrogen. This is simply a myth (3). Estrogen is a hormone produced by the body. Soy foods like tofu contain phytoestrogen, which is a plant compound. Their names may be similar but they are completely different compounds and behave differently in the body. So, including soy foods in your child’s vegan diet is safe and beneficial.
   
   I like to use tofu in meals either as baked with my favorite spices, blended in creamy sauces for pasta, or crumbled to add in lasagnas as a substitute for ricotta cheese. By being creative and using tofu in a variety of ways, it ensures that the meal is nutritive.
   
   One of my daughter’s favorite ways to eat tofu is baked seasoned with garlic powder, onion powder, and oregano. You can find this recipe along with a vegan Mac & Cheese with tofu in the Vegan Kids Cookbook.

3. Chia Seeds

Chia seeds are considered a good source of iron but it does require a large portion (about 2 tablespoons) for what kids can realistically eat at one time. About 1 tablespoon of chia seeds offers about 1 milligram (2). Nonetheless, you can rest assured that including chia seeds in your child’s diet will help them meet their iron needs.

My family enjoys sprinkling chia seeds on oatmeal, cereal, PB&J sandwiches, smoothies, as part of a muffin recipe or making a chia pudding.

If your vegan baby is just starting solids, you can begin to introduce chia seeds at 6 months of age. One of the ways I offered this to my daughter was by mixing just a ¼ teaspoon or so with expressed breastmilk (or formula) or using an unsweetened plant yogurt to make chia pudding. Then I would pre-load onto her spoon and offer it to her. You don’t have to grind the chia seeds as they’re a delicate seed but you can if you want to. It’s a simple yet great way to help your vegan baby meet this nutrient.

4. Farro

A wheat grain that I have enjoyed serving my family and one that I recommend to clients to include in their meal planning is farro. It has a nutty flavor which works perfectly for a grain bowl with a tahini dressing, in soups, or even just as a side dish.

There are many other types of grains that provide some amount of iron but for just one 1/4 cup of serving, farro is considered a good source of iron compared to other types of grains. This helps maximize the iron content of your meal and a greater chance of helping your kids meet their iron requirements for the day.

Whether you incorporate 2 or all of these plant-based foods into your child’s vegan diet, what matters is that you focus your meal planning around ensuring that this key nutrient is offered at meal times. Focus on offering a variety of plant foods that are rich in iron so that you continue to help support proper growth for your vegan infant, toddler, and/or child.

Do Vegan Kids Needs an Iron Supplement?

Vegan kids who eat a well-balanced diet and overall have a good intake don’t necessarily need an iron supplement.

During early infancy (especially if exclusively breastfeeding) an iron supplement is beneficial and recommended but as long your child is eating well from a variety of plant sources and consumes iron-rich plant foods, an iron supplement is not needed. 

For toddlers and children who may be selective with food, many will need an iron supplement or a multivitamin that contains iron. Speak with your healthcare provider to determine if your vegan child may need or can benefit from a supplement to boost their iron levels.

References

1. Baroni, L., Goggi, S., & Battino, M. (2019). Planning Well-Balanced Vegetarian Diets in Infants, Children, and Adolescents: The VegPlate Junior. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 119(7), 1067-1074. doi:10.1016/j.jand.2018.06.008

2. FoodData Central Search Results. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/170554/nutrients

3. Messina, M. (2010). Soybean isoflavone exposure does not have feminizing effects on men: A critical examination of the clinical evidence. Fertility and Sterility, 93(7), 2095-2104. doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2010.03.002

4. Office of Dietary Supplements - Iron. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-HealthProfessional/

5. Position of the American Dietetic Association: Vegetarian Diets. (2009). Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 109(7), 1266-1282. doi:10.1016/j.jada.2009.05.02