One of us has an eleven-year-old who is thin, does martial arts, never stops moving at school, and will not eat anything that isn't sweet before she leaves the house. Her iron has already come back low more than once. She hasn't yet reached the point where the requirement jumps.
Neither of us has a teenager yet. Between us there are five children: two of six, two of ten, and one of eleven. So this one is written from the research, and from the mothers a few years ahead of us who told us what caught them out.
The short answer
- We left iron out of our teen formula on purpose. This article is the reasoning.
- Iron requirement for girls rises at menarche and stays raised. It is the largest single nutritional change of adolescence.
- EFSA's average requirement goes from 8 mg a day to 13 mg.
- It is also the one nutrient where guessing has a real cost in both directions. Blood test first. Product second.
- Pocket Teens carries no iron. Vitamin C is 100 mg. That is not an iron product.
The number that changes
Before menarche, a girl of 11 to 14 needs roughly what a boy the same age needs. Growth sets the number.
After menarche, monthly losses sit on top of growth. They do not stop. That is EFSA's 2015 iron opinion.
| Group | EFSA average requirement | Population reference intake |
|---|---|---|
| Girls 11–14, pre-menarche | 8 mg | 11 mg |
| Girls 11–14, menstruating | 13 mg | 13 mg |
| Girls 15–17 | 13 mg | 13 mg |
| Boys 15–17, for scale | 8 mg | 11 mg |
Thirteen milligrams is more food than it sounds like. Roughly: a large bowl of lentils, plus a serving of dark greens, plus a fortified cereal, every day, and only if absorption cooperates. Which brings us to the problem.
The reference intake for menstruating girls sits unusually close to the average requirement, because losses vary enormously between individuals. One number covers that spread badly. Which is exactly why this is the nutrient least suited to being estimated from an article, including this one.
What changes at 12 in the rest of the panel is here.
Why food struggles here
Two problems arrive at once.
Absorption is low, and conditional. Iron from meat is absorbed at roughly 15 to 35%. Iron from plants, at roughly 2 to 20%, and that range moves depending on what else is on the plate. Vitamin C in the same meal pushes it up. Tea, coffee and a large dose of calcium at the same sitting push it down.
The diet often moves the wrong way at exactly the wrong time. Adolescence is when many people first decide to eat less meat, or none at all. That is a legitimate choice and we are not arguing with it. It just tends to land in the same year the requirement rises by more than half.
Cut out red meat at 13. Started her periods at 13. Two large changes to the same balance, both pointing the same way, inside twelve months. The meat page is here.
Why we left iron out
Three reasons, set out so the absence does not read as cost-cutting.
Iron has no exit. The body has no regulated route to get rid of a surplus. Most of what we include has a wide margin precisely because the excess leaves. Iron does not work that way. A daily product taken without a reason is the wrong shape for it.
A household product cannot be dosed for one person. Our three formulas exist so a family can take them without a negotiation about who needs what. Iron is where that logic collapses. The right amount for a menstruating fifteen-year-old is not the right amount for her ten-year-old brother, or her father.
Multinutrient iron is too little to do the job and too much to ignore. Typical multinutrients carry a fraction of a corrective dose. If she genuinely needs iron, that fraction will not do it. If she does not, it has no business being in there.
What to ask for
Ask for ferritin, not just haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is the last thing to fall. Ferritin reflects stores, and stores empty first, which is why a normal haemoglobin alongside a low ferritin is common in teenage girls and easy to miss. This is a routine request. No GP will find it odd.
Four things worth saying at the appointment:
- "She started her periods in [month, year]."
- "Can we check ferritin as well as a full blood count?"
- "What's her number, and where does it sit in this lab's range?" Ranges differ between labs, so the figure on its own tells you very little.
- "If it's low but technically normal, what would you want to see before we did anything?"
If iron is indicated, a targeted preparation at a dose your doctor sets will do in weeks what a multinutrient cannot do in months. If it is not, you have saved yourself a supplement and you have got a baseline for next time.
In Portugal that appointment is the family doctor or SNS 24. In Spain, the paediatrician. The children's iron page, which is the same nutrient at a younger age, is here.
In the meantime, make the food work harder
Pulses, dark leafy greens, fortified cereals, each with a source of vitamin C at the same meal. Peppers, citrus, tomatoes, strawberries.
And move the tea and coffee away from mealtimes. It is a small change. It measurably alters how much iron gets across the gut wall.
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Where My Daily Pocket fits
We sell a supplement for teenagers, and the largest genuine change in this age group is one our product does not close.
| Formula | Iron | Vitamin C | Who it is for | Who it is not for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pocket Kids (4–11) | None | 80 mg | A daily multinutrient for that age | Iron. |
| Pocket Teens (12–17) | None | 100 mg | Same idea, teen amounts | Iron. A corrective iron product. |
| Pocket Adults (18+) | None | 150 mg | Same idea, adult amounts | Iron. Pregnancy as prenatal care. |
Vitamin C contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, in that authorised wording. It is also the dietary lever on plant iron. That is not an iron claim, and we are not making one.
If iron is your question, the useful next step is your GP. Not our checkout.
FAQ
Does Pocket Teens contain iron?
No. None of the three formulas.
How much does the requirement rise at menarche?
EFSA's average requirement goes from 8 mg a day to 13 mg, and it stays raised.
What should I ask the GP for?
Ferritin, not only haemoglobin. Bring the date periods started.
Can vitamin C replace an iron supplement?
No. It helps the body take up plant iron at the same meal. Pocket Teens has 100 mg of vitamin C. That is not a corrective iron dose.
Is tiredness in a teenage girl a reason to buy this pouch?
Usually not first. Sleep, then ferritin. The tiredness page is here.
Sources
- EFSA, dietary reference values for iron, 2015
- EFSA, dietary reference values for vitamin C, 2013
- EU Register of nutrition and health claims
- SNS 24
- What changes at 12
- Does my child need an iron supplement?
- Why teenagers are tired
About the authors
Lina is a co-founder of My Daily Pocket and is certified in nutrition. Stanislava is a co-founder. They write the Knowledge Hub together.
Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.
Food supplements should not replace a varied, balanced diet and a healthy lifestyle. No supplement is a substitute for a varied, balanced diet. Stay within the dose on the pack. This page does not replace a GP. If you are pregnant, on medicines, or a child has a medical condition, speak to a professional.
Our first small release is complete and ordering is paused. Join early access for 10% off the first order from the next release. We will email the code when ordering opens.
