Nutrition and Diet Therapy 6th Edition by Carroll Lutz, Erin Mazur , Nancy Litch

Exercise 17

Mrs. H is a 30-year-old mother of three children, all younger than 5 years of age. On her 6-week postpartum visit, her hemoglobin level was 10 grams per 100 milliliters of blood. She is given a prescription for ferrous sulfate and referred to the office nurse for nutrition counseling regarding her iron intake. 1.Mrs. H tells the nurse that she eats what the children eat: cold cereal and milk for breakfast, peanut butter and jelly\ sandwiches and maybe a banana for lunch, and casseroles of tuna or hamburger for dinner. 1.Mrs. H is a heavy coffee drinker, consuming 10 cups per day, two with each meal and a total of four others during "coffee breaks."
The H family is lower-middle class. 1.Mr. H is a long distance truck driver and is away from home for long intervals. 1.Mrs. H has some knowledge of iron needs and sources because of her three pregnancies. She is reluctant to continue the ferrous sulfate she has been taking throughout her pregnancy. "It binds me up," she tells the nurse. Also, 1.Mrs. H maintains she cannot eat liver: "It gags me."
To meet the safety needs of the H children, the nurse instructs 1.Mrs. H to keep her ferrous sulfate in a locked cupboard. The reason for this is:
A) Interactions of iron tablets with vitamin supplements intended for children can cause deficiencies of water-soluble vitamins.
B) The human body has no effective means of excreting an overload of iron.
C) Iron poisoning, although rare, can occur if a child ingests more than 30 tablets of ferrous sulfate.
D) Because iron binds with calcium, an overdose of iron would cause rickets.