Episode 96 : Does dairy cause iron deficiency in kids?

Episode 96 : Does dairy cause iron deficiency in kids?

Have you been hearing all the recent conversations about dairy and iron deficiency in children and wondering, "Should I be worried about how much dairy my child is having?"

In this episode, I'm unpacking the recent media discussion around dairy, extreme iron deficiency anaemia and three Queensland toddlers who sadly died after developing severe iron deficiency anaemia.

Now, I don't want to scare you. But I do want you to be informed.

There's been a lot of discussion and different opinions around this topic, so I'm taking a balanced look at what we know about iron deficiency, where dairy fits into the picture, and why too much dairy can become a problem for young children.

As a paediatric dietitian, I see iron deficiency regularly, particularly in children who are picky eaters, fussy eaters or eating a very limited range of foods. And one of the biggest issues I see is dairy displacing the iron-rich foods that our children need.

In This Episode

Understanding Iron Deficiency vs Iron Deficiency Anaemia
I break down the difference between low iron, iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia, and why severe deficiency can have a significant impact on a child's health.

How Too Much Dairy Can Contribute to Low Iron
We look at why large amounts of milk, cheese and yoghurt can displace nutritious foods containing iron, particularly in children with restricted diets.

Why Young Children Need So Much Iron
Find out why babies and toddlers have surprisingly high iron requirements and why we need to be intentional about the foods we're offering.

Signs Your Child May Have Low Iron
I talk through some of the signs parents can look out for, including poor appetite, fussiness, tiredness, pale skin, concentration difficulties and pica.

Supporting a Picky or Fussy Eater
Practical ways to increase iron-rich foods without relying on red meat, particularly when your child struggles with textures or has a very limited diet.

Highlights:

Dairy and Iron Deficiency in Kids - 00:00.138
What Extreme Iron Deficiency Anemia Means - 02:23.894
Iron Deficiency vs Iron Deficiency Anemia - 04:46.06
The Queensland Toddlers and Dairy Consumption - 07:05.576
How Dairy Causes Iron Deficiency - 09:23.874
Dairy and Iron Absorption - 11:41.878
Why Do Children Need Dairy? - 14:03.722
Signs of Low Iron in Children - 16:29.3
Iron Supplementation in Children - 18:43.752

Show notes

READ TRANSCRIPT

Show Notes & Resources

Healthy Recipes for Kids: https://nourishwithkarina.com/healthy-recipes-for-kids

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Nutrition Consultation: https://nourishwithkarina.com/nutrition-consultation

Join the Membership Waitlist: https://nourishwithkarina.com/membership

Email Karina: hello@nourishwithkarina.com

Dairy and Iron Deficiency in Kids - 00:00.138
You're listening to the Easy Feed Podcast, episode number 96. Does dairy cause iron deficiency in kids? Hi there, I'm Karina Savage, and with over 20 years experience feeding children, including my own, I've learnt all the secrets that busy mums need to get their children eating better and actually enjoying healthy foods. So a huge welcome to the Easy Feed Podcast.

Everybody, I hope you're really well. Today I'm talking about something that we have been seeing a lot of discussion about in the media over the past few weeks. It has been a topic that a few dietitians and people have weighed in on in terms of offering their opinion. And so I just wanted to add, you know, another opinion to the mix because I think it's important to pull apart the facts and know exactly the facts and not be scared about.

dairy, but also be informed about dairy because I think it's really important to understand exactly what the message is here so that there's not scaremongering, but also to make sure there's not that dismissive narrative because dairy is a part of the problem here. So I think it's important to give a balanced view, which is what I'm here to give you today. So what actually happened in Queensland on the 9th of August 2026. So this is about a week ago.

There were three Queensland toddlers that were reported as having died over the previous two years after developing extreme iron deficiency anemia. And it's important to look at the word extreme here. Okay, so let's pause for a second here because I want to explain what this means, what extreme iron deficiency anemia means. So when a child has low iron, that's low iron or

iron deficiency. Okay. So it's below what would be a typical cutoff, which let's just say is 20. Some people use 30, some people use 10, but at the moment when you're looking at blood results, most people use a cutoff of 20. Okay. So that's the ferritin. So if a child is below 20, their ferritin is below 20, you would say that they were iron deficient.

What Extreme Iron Deficiency Anemia Means - 02:23.894
Okay, well, most would say that they were iron deficiencies. And certainly that's the cutoff that they used in this origin study, which has also been recently discussed in the media. And it was great. It's been published at least. It was really interesting data on children's iron intakes in Australia. So very, very valuable data and really fits what I see clinically. So anyway, these children had extreme iron deficiency anemia. So as I said, iron deficiency is when the ferritin level is below 20.

Okay, for argument's sake. Now, iron deficiency anemia is when the hemoglobin is actually affected. Okay, so what does that mean? So hemoglobin is part of our red blood cells. Okay, so it actually is the part of our red blood cell that holds on to oxygen and it helps to carry oxygen around the blood. Now, when there's not enough iron.

It affects our hemoglobin in our red blood cells, which means that less of our blood cells can carry oxygen around the body. And so that is when you become anemic, when the hemoglobin is affected. Okay, because you need iron for the hemoglobin. So iron deficiency is when our stored levels of iron in our body, ferritin, low. So that ferritin is low.

That means that we're iron deficient or our children are iron deficient. When we have iron deficiency anemia, it means that our stores are so low it's now affecting our hemoglobin in our red blood cells, which means we can't carry as much oxygen around the blood as we wish. And that's why it can make us more lethargic because we're not carrying as much oxygen around in the blood. And that's important, especially if we're very active.

So that's iron deficiency anemia. When the iron levels in the body, the stored iron levels in the body are so low that the body can't produce enough hemoglobin, which means it can't carry enough oxygen around the blood. Now that's iron deficiency anemia. So there is a difference. So we've got low iron or low ferritin, which is what's called iron deficiency.

Iron Deficiency vs Iron Deficiency Anemia - 04:46.06
But when it's so low that it then affects the hemoglobin, that's when it becomes iron deficiency anemia. Now, these children that passed away, these three children over the past two years in Queensland, they had extreme iron deficiency anemia. And that's why their body wasn't able to fight off illness as effectively, because it was already significantly compromised.

By the iron deficiency anemia, or I should say the extreme iron deficiency anemia. The immune system is impacted, the heart may be impacted, the lungs may be impacted. So the body's already in a compromised state in iron deficiency anemia. And then if you bring in a bad bug or virus, then that's why that little body may not be able to fight it. Now,

This is where I don't want the scaremongering to happen because it doesn't mean that a, every child that's iron deficient or even iron deficient, anemic is at risk of dying because these are very, very, very extreme cases. But what it does mean is that in a child that is extremely iron deficient and anemic, it needs to be rectified to improve their immune system, to improve their overall well being.

Now, this is where dairy comes into it because the Queensland Children's Hospital hematologist Sally Campbell said that these children were drinking too much cow's milk, and that contributed to the iron deficiency anemia, which contributed to the deaths of the Queensland toddlers. And she also said that pediatricians across Australia have been concerned about the jump in iron deficiency in young children.

And that parents need to be better educated about the issue. And look, as I always say in my podcast, well, not all of my podcast episodes, but the ones that relate to nutrients and iron, I do see a lot more iron deficiency these days. And it just seems like there's more and more kids with iron deficiency now than there used to be. And this fits with what this origin study out of Western Australia, which is recently published, told us. They found that.

The Queensland Toddlers and Dairy Consumption - 07:05.576
In three-year-old children, and this was over 10,000 cases, they showed in blood tests that more than 56% of these children had low iron, and almost 20% had very low iron, and 2.6% were classified as having severe iron deficiency anemia. And this is a concern. And this is why these doctors in Queensland are raising alarm bells because they've had three deaths in two years and they've said that there's a direct

relationship between the excess intake or excessive consumption of dairy and these children's deaths. So this is what she was quoted as saying in the ABC story. Sally Campbell was quoted as saying, consuming more than two cups or five hundred milliliters of cow's milk a day caused iron deficiency anemia in children aged five and under, and in rare cases was life threatening. And there's a Perth based professor of pediatrics

Desray Silva, who described the issue as a hidden health crisis. And she was the co-director of the Origin Study, which again is shining a light on the incidence of iron deficiency in children. So these children were actually drinking more than one liter of cow's milk per day, which subsequently resulted in them developing extreme iron deficiency anemia and sadly dying.

And it was directly related to their body's inability to fight the illness that they picked up once they were in that severely iron deficient anemic state. The virus just kind of pushed them over the edge. So let me be very clear. It's not that any child with iron deficiency is going to die. It's not that any child with iron deficiency anemia is going to die, but in extreme cases when their little body is so compromised and so weakened.

That's when these illnesses and these viruses can really take hold. And that's what happened with those three young children in Queensland. Now, where does dairy fit into all this? It absolutely fits into all this. And it's absolutely a cause when there's excessive dairy consumption. And so the narrative around dairy does not cause iron deficiency or dairy does not play a role in this is incorrect.

How Dairy Causes Iron Deficiency - 09:23.874
Dairy absolutely plays a role in this. And how does dairy play a role in this? Well, two ways. The most significant way it plays a role in this is it displaces healthy foods that will provide nutrients such as iron. And that's the biggest way that dairy causes iron deficiency or a tub of yogurt instead of a piece of toast with peanut butter or some homicide crackers. They are contributing to their risk of iron deficiency.

Dairy does not contain any iron whatsoever. Okay. It has protein, it has fat, it has carbohydrate, it has zinc. It does not have iron. So every time a child is putting dairy into their mouth, instead of an iron containing food, they are increasing their risk of iron deficiency. And this is layers, layers and layers. So children often don't eat a lot of meat.

They don't do well with the texture of meat, or they don't want to eat meat for whatever reason. And so they're already starting out from a low baseline in terms of how much iron they're having. Dairy is hugely satisfying to kids. It's got a beautiful mouthfeel, it ticks all the boxes, it's very satiating, meaning it fills them up, it makes them feel good. So there's every reason why children want to have dairy. It's easy, it's often affordable.

So all of these factors are working towards a child becoming more iron deficient. I see it all the time in my online clinic and the kids that I see and the parents that I work with in my membership, it's a chronic problem and it's becoming more and more of a problem to the point now where children are dying. Look, I'm sure they've always been dying, but it's more of a problem. The incidence of iron deficiency, iron deficiency anemia, and extreme iron deficiency anemia has increased.

Now, dairy also does impact absorption of iron. The jury's a little bit out in terms of the mechanism that is exactly at play here, whether it's the calcium. I also have done a deep dive into this area and I know that dairy protein can also play a role in iron absorption. We also know that gut microbiome influences iron absorption. So there's many factors that will influence the absorption of iron.

Dairy and Iron Absorption - 11:41.878
And I still believe that dairy will impact the absorption of iron, but the bigger mechanism at play here is the displacement of dairy foods for those iron-rich foods. So instead of having the hummus or the peanut butter sandwich, they're having the dairy, they're having another yoga patch, they're having another cheese stick, they're having another glass of milk, they're having a toddler milk, whatever it may be. And this is the biggest issue here.

I have seen children who have had 1.5, 1.8 liters of milk a day. I have had child and family health nurses ring me up telling me that they've got a toddler drinking 1.8 liters of milk a day and nothing else and really concerned about this child. I concur with them. I'm like, yeah, this is a real concern for them. They probably are indeficient. I think we've all been really encouraged to give our children cow's milk and dairy once they stop breastfeeding.

And I actually wonder how much of this is driven by the dairy industry. Because really, at the end of the day, the cavemen weren't told to feed their kids dairy once they stopped breastfeeding them. The cavemen, I should say. Because, you know, from an evolutionary perspective, it's not normal for us to keep drinking milk once we finish breastfeeding from our mother. Once we wean, we wean. What other animal drinks breast milk ongoing? And what other animal drinks breast milk?

from another animal's breast milk. So it's just a bit weird. And I still can't really wrap my head around why we need to be giving our kids dairy, you know? And people say it's calcium. But there's plenty of calcium in other foods. And I mean, we weren't supposed to keep breastfeeding from our mother for 50 years. So surely our bodies were designed to get calcium from foods, from berries, from other fruits and vegetables.

That wasn't another animal's milk. And if you can convince me otherwise with a great story and a great argument, please reach out to me because I'm all ears and I'm very open-minded to learn. But I still just can't wrap my head around why we're supposed to drink another animal's breast milk as human beings. And that's why half of us are lactose intolerant because we weren't, our bodies weren't designed to deal with the lactose, again, which is breast milk.

Why Do Children Need Dairy? - 14:03.722
As we grow up, like it that's why there's so much lactor's intolerance. So, what are the signs of low iron? Do you need to get your child tested? These are questions that I commonly get asked by my parents in one on one consultations that we have, or also with the parents in my membership, in our private chat group or in our live calls, I'll say, Do I need to get a blood test for little Johnny? And it's it's a case by case situation. And I ask a few questions and then I'll give them my opinion.

And certainly, if you want to know more about my membership, head to my website. You can find all of the information there. Or if you want to look at a one-on-one personalized consultation, the information is there as well. And that's where I'll give you exact guidelines on what you should be doing with your children, how much is appropriate for them, and tips and ideas about what substitutions you can make and what swaps you can make that's going to support your child's health and nutrition. That's my role. Signs of low iron.

might be pale skin, it might be dark circles under the eyes. It might be poor appetite, increased fussiness. You know, in extreme cases, it might be the child is licking poles, metal poles. It's called picker. Certainly had a couple of kids over the years who have done that. It could be impacting their growth. It could be impacting their general well-being, their concentration. So look, some of these are very vague symptoms.

So it's sometimes hard to pick up. And I think that's another f reason why it's often missed, because as parents you think, that's just how they are, when actually there might be a reason for it might be low iron. So I don't want parents to be completely scared about giving their children dairy if that's what you choose to do. And I must say this is the majority of people will give their children dairy, but

Do be mindful of the amount of dairy that they have because children having multiple cups of dairy a day plus cheese plus yogurt, they are the ones that are going to have an increased risk of developing low iron. It's being really mindful and intentional of the snacks that you're giving your child, which is why I'm always going on, especially in my membership, about types of snacks and the better types of snacks and the snacks that are going to boost fiber and iron versus

Signs of Low Iron in Children - 16:29.3
Another tub of yogurt versus another cheese stick or another pouch of yogurt. Little bodies have really high iron requirements. Almost as much as a grown man sometimes. A 12-month-old baby has the same, if not higher, iron requirement as a grown man. And that's because their body is in growth stage. It needs the iron, okay? And that's why we have to be really intentional.

about the foods that we're giving our children. And granted, half the time they're fussy, especially in that two to three year old age group, which is why I spend a lot of time with parents in my membership, looking at the way that we approach feeding and how we can make those substitutions and get iron-rich foods into our children without the fuss. And that's really, really important understand and be implementing on a regular basis.

Because once you are informed and know exactly what to do, it becomes so much easier and you feel a lot better knowing that you're getting all these little wins all of the time. And as a parent, that's everything, knowing that you are doing everything you can to make sure that your child is getting what they need to thrive. That just makes you feel so comforted and reassured on the inside.

I've felt it too. Look, my kids have been low in iron. You just feel so guilty when you realize that you haven't been across everything and whatever you've been doing hasn't been good enough. So it's yeah, I think it's really important to know that you are doing everything you can. And we talk a lot actually too about iron replacement and in kids who are low, making sure that they are on the right amount of iron and the right type of iron because kids needing iron supplementation, they need the right dose. And gosh, I have had a huge spectrum of some kids are

undeficient anemic and on really, really ridiculously low doses. And then some are on really high doses, some are constipated. So you need to choose the right iron preparation that's going to reduce the risk of constipation. It's really important to get it right. And so that's another conversation we'll often have is okay, what's their ferritin level and what should they be on, basically? Because there's very clear guidelines on what they should be on and definitely clear guidelines on what a better type of iron supplement

Iron Supplementation in Children - 18:43.752
Is especially if they're constipated. So yeah, it's great for parents to have that support to know that they're going in the right direction for their child. So that's really a little summary, a little wrap-up of what's been going on in the media, what that ABC story was about, the conversations that have been happening around dairy and iron deficiency, anemia and children's deaths. So don't be scared, but do be aware and do look at what.

your child is eating and think about ways that you could intentionally increase their iron intake. It doesn't have to be red meat, but it's important that you are intentionally increasing their iron if you feel that they may be at risk of low iron. Two places that I get my members to start is my how to boost iron resource and what to do if your child won't eat meat resource, because they're really great, straightforward guides on exactly

How to do this. So if you are in my membership, head to the online portal and jump in and grab those, and that will be a really great way to get started. I've also got my white diet nutrient booster, which is another great tool, which helps you work through the key nutrients at risk for your child. So if you have any questions or comments, as I said, please reach out to me. Love to chat more about dairy and iron. It's certainly an area that is important. It's a hot topic. And because I just see so many parents and kids.

that need support in this area, it's really important to keep talking about this. So reach out to me. I hope it's been helpful and I look forward to chatting with you soon. Bye for now.