World Iron Awareness Week is an annual campaign with the aim of raising awareness of iron deficiency in New Zealand, and worldwide. It was created in 2014 in response to the concerning statistics of iron deficiency in NZ – one in 14 NZ women are iron deficient, a third of teen girls don’t get enough iron in their diet each day, and more recently it was found that 7% of newborns (in one particular study) were born with iron deficiency.
World Iron Awareness Week will run May 1-7 with an aim to raise awareness on the importance of dietary iron in pregnancy. However, the risk of iron deficiency is not restricted to pregnancy; women, children, preterm babies, teens and athletes all have a higher risk.
The campaign aims to educate around the symptoms of iron deficiency and what can be done about it – one method being a diet high in iron to prevent low iron levels.
Free resources
An ‘Asian Beef with Noodles’ recipe (pictured) from the Autumn issue of mEAT Magazine can be found here.
It provides a quarter of a woman’s daily iron needs and over half of men’s requirements.
A range of free resources is also available at ironweek.co.nz
#WorldIronWeek
Did you know?
- There are two types of iron in food: haem iron (found in meat and fish) and non-haem iron (found mainly in plants). The body absorbs haem iron in meat more efficiently than non-haem iron in plant foods, at a rate of 25% compared to around 5%.
- Animal foods, like lean beef and lamb, contain a “meat factor” known to increase absorption of non-haem iron 2-4 fold.
- Vitamin C increases non-haem iron absorption so it is recommended to include vitamin C rich fruit and vegetables with main meals.
- A hearty chilli con carne made with lean beef and kidney beans can provide around a third of the daily iron requirements for pregnant women.
