My four year old daughter is slighlty anemic. What causes this, and what else can we do to prevent it from getting worse. Hemoglobin is the substance in our red blood cells that does the actual job of carrying oxygen. There are many causes of anemia, but in the pediatric population, the most common cause is due to iron deficiency.
Low iron leads to anemia because iron is needed to produce hemoglobin.
Iron deficiency anemia can occur due to a number of causes, but the most common of these is low dietary intake of iron. Increasing the iron in your child's diet can help to prevent her anemia from getting worse. Iron rich foods include meats, certain vegetables like spinach, legumes, and iron-fortified cereals. When a pediatrician prescribes iron, they generally do not prescribe more than 15 mg a day. Most pediatric multivitamins contain between 4 an 15 mg of iron.