Nutrition

By preparing food safely and making good food choices, you can help lower your child's risk of lead poisoning. Good nutrition will help strengthen your child's resistance to lead poisoning!

Make sure children's diets contain plenty of Iron, Calcium and Vitamin C

Foods High In Iron:

• Chicken, turkey, lean beef, liver
• Cooked dried beans or peas, baked beans, chili, limas, butter beans, black-eyed peas
• Iron fortified cereals
• Baked potato with skin
• Greens and spinach
• Raisins, nuts and seeds - sunflower or pumpkin seeds

 Foods High In Calcium (Skim or low-fat milk products are best.):

• Milk, cheese, yogurt
• Greens and Kale
• Ice milk
• Hot chocolate or pudding

Foods High in Vitamin C:

• Oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, strawberries, cantaloupe
• Juices - oranges, grapefruit, lemonade
• Tomatoes
• Bell peppers
• Potatoes & sweet potatoes baked in their skins
• Greens and kale

Limit Fats and Oils:

Foods high in fats and oils make it easier for the body to absorb lead. Removing skins from chicken and fat from meat will help reduce fat. Limit These Foods In Your Child's Diet:

• Butter
• Scrapple
• Oil
• French Fries
• Lard
• Potato Chips (high-fat "junk food")
• Bacon
• Fried Foods
• Sausage

These ideas will help:

• Add a food or drink with Vitamin C to each meal.
• If your doctor prescribes iron medicine for your child, mix it with a little bit of orange juice or any juice containing Vitamin C.
• Cook food in iron pots and pans. This will add a lot of iron to your child's diet.
• Serve healthy snacks - 5 to 6 small meals are better than 3 big meals. A child with an empty stomach will take in more lead.