Anemia causes children to become tired, irritable, pale, and have short attention spans. Severe cases can stunt growth and alter physical and mental performance. There are several reasons why iron deficiency is so common in the preschool age group. First, preschoolers are growing rapidly and they need more iron than before. Second, many preschoolers may still be consuming a lot of milk which doesn't contain much iron, and excluding iron-containing foods.
Some children dislike many food sources of iron such as green vegetables and red meats.
Third, some children just eat so little that it's difficult to get all the iron they need. It's hard to get all the iron they need in a small amount of food because iron is not found in large amounts in any one food. It's necessary to eat several iron-containing foods each day in order to meet the need. It is also hard to meet iron needs because most of the iron found in food is not easily absorbed. However, there are some things you can do to absorb more iron.