Anaemia in a 2-year-old girl

What is anaemia and how do I find out if my daughter has it? My mother tells me that I looked very pale as a child and was diagnosed as having anaemia. My 2-year-old daughter looks pale but she is otherwise well.

Anaemia is a reduced number of red cells in the bloodstream. These red cells contain haemoglobin and use this to carry oxygen from the air in our lungs to all parts of the body. If we become anaemic slowly, the body compensates, for example the heart beats more strongly and more rapidly. So we may not notice that we have a problem but if the anaemia is bad enough the anaemic person looks pale.

Some people, both adults and children, are naturally pale without having anaemia. To find out if your daughter is anaemic she needs to have a blood test. This can be organised by your local doctor.

If anaemia is present it is necessary to find out why. Most of the many causes of it are readily fixed. In a 2-year-old the most likely cause would be an inadequate amount of iron in the child’s diet. The best source of iron is red meat. If a significant iron-deficiency is found, this can be fixed by giving iron medicine by mouth in a single dose per day