Toddlers Need Iron to Protect Against Obesity

Wednesday, September 05, 2007 - Byron J. Richards, CCN

A lack of dietary iron is now linked as a contributing factor to the development of obesity in toddlers.  Instead of adequate iron intake such toddlers often had extra sugar consumption in the form of fruit juice.  Either low iron or high sugar intake will induce obesity and the combination is not good.  Researchers found that obese toddlers had an incidence of 20% obesity, compared to 7% in non-obese toddlers.  Iron is required for the formation of hemoglobin which carries oxygen and the cellular utilization of thyroid hormone, important factors in healthy metabolism.

Dietary iron is typically from red meat or vegetables like spinach and beets.  Iron fortification of food or baby formulas uses cheap iron salts that may actually cause bacterial or Candida overgrowth in the intestinal tract, another major cause of obesity in children.  Thus, supplemental iron should only be in high quality form, like iron bisglycinate.  This form of iron is chelated to two molecules of the amino acid glycine and behaves like a true protein-mineral complex.  It is the safest form of iron supplementation.  Iron is also needed for proper growth and brain development.

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