Adoption nutrition is an area about which much is still unknown.  However, the more that is learned through studies and clinical observation, the more it becomes apparent that adoptees have unique nutritional needs.  SPOON hopes to highlight and explain the many unique needs on our upcoming Adoption Nutrition website.  Hopefully all of the information will be helpful; some of it has certainly been enlightening to me, like the following:

Iron stores in adopted children: Most children who are adopted from overseas are seen by their pediatricians soon after entering the U.S.  Most of them will have lab work completed, including a check of their iron levels.  Many kids look good at that initial test with iron levels within normal limits.  Their parents breathe a sigh of relief and figure that their child was not impacted by his or her early diet.  What many parents (and their pediatricians) do not know is that the children are actually at a higher risk for low iron levels later on, after they’ve started to become healthier.  Most children, upon adoption, experience a rapid period of growth.  Interestingly, this growth is due not only to good nutrition, but also from love and attention.  Sometimes, because of this rapid growth, kids pull extra hard from their iron stores.  But if their iron stores were a little low to start with (but not low enough to cause concern at the initial testing), suddenly the child uses up what they’ve got access to, and it’s difficult to keep the iron stores replenished.  The result?  Anemia, or low iron levels, or low ferritin levels.  The symptoms?  Sometimes nothing, sometimes fatigue, difficulty concentrating, or pale skin, among several other potential symptoms.

When I first learned about this pattern in internationally adopted kids, I had Bakha tested.  Sure enough, she had low iron.  Upon starting iron supplements she immediately started having more energy and sleeping less.  Three years later, she is still on iron supplements but her levels are slowly improving.  I hate to think what would have happened if the low iron levels had not been detected so quickly.  Would she still be sleeping 14 hours a day?  Would she have learning difficulties?  Would her passion for horseback riding be too much work?  And what about that jump rope marathon she’s been practicing for nonstop over the past 2 weeks.  Through sheer determination she’s improved her record from 3 jumps to 88.  A kid needs energy for that kind of grit.