Low Iron and Lead Poisioning

We had a consultation with the WIC nurse yesterday. It is a nutritional program for kids and I found out two things that were of interest. First of all she said that the children who are testing positive for high lead is really high right now because of toys coming in from China and other countries who have not ban lead paint. Lead paints are cheap, and they produce vivid colors (just what kids love). She said she could give me a list of toys but that it changes so much that her list is already outdated! So I found a list of popular toys that have been recalled for lead. The list goes on forever it seems! What I noticed was that many of the things listed the "cheap toys" like toys that only cost a dollar, or are dispensed in one of those toy machines. She said that you can test some things at home with a "Lead pen". Also don't let them chew on toys, and wash their hands to get the lead off of them for when they do put their hands in their mouth. You can buy special wipes for this, but soap and water work as well.

If you don't know about lead poisoning it can cause kidney and brain damage. Here is a great article on what parents should know.

On to the second thing that she told me. She said that Noah was a little low in iron, and that it is common for kids his age group because they are no longer getting iron from breast milk or formula. So we need to increase his diet of iron rich foods. And if you serve them along with a vitamin C food it has better absorption.
Iron rich foods/Vitamin C:
Beef / Orange juice
Chicken / Tomatoes
Turkey / Grapefruit
Broccoli (has both)
Eggs (has both)
So we are going to try and bring up his iron! Even though she said it was so close to the line that it could be brought up with one meal, I want it to stay up:)

Also, I had posted earlier that the Dr. was concerned about Noah's weight. He is now 22lbs. So she said that he is on the low end but still healthy and she was not concerned at all and that he has some genetic factor to that. I was impressed that she even took Kurt and I's BMI. Which were both healthy. I felt like I defiantly got a more in depth opinion from her than the Dr. but I guess I am getting used to that!