Help me get more iron & protein into 7 year old with ADHD

[YouFilthyAnimal]

He pretty much only eats fruit, veg & carbs carbs like pasta/rice/bagels & bread products

Will not eat;
chicken
beef
lamb
pork
fish
prawns
chickpeas
beans
cheese
eggs
leaves

So basically no protein or iron whatsoever
Hes very tiny and slight, and lately is starting to look very pale and dark around the eyes

Any ideas??

Google says children 4-8 years need 19g protein. A bowl of pasta has about 8g protein. A 200ml glass of soya milk has 6g. A serving of brown rice has 4g. Some of those protein puddings and so on have 20g - if you start introducing lots of high protein alternatives you could end up giving him at least double the amount of protein he actually needs in a day.

What about a fortified milkshake like Complan? Also if he likes pancakes it's easy to add an extra egg. My autistic DD likes eggy bread with cinnamon and sugar, which is the only way she eats eggs apart from in cakes or pancakes. I can't get her to take an iron supplement but she does eat some meat (chicken nuggets or sausages) and fortified cereal.

This☝@YouFilthyAnimal my youngest went vegetarian in his teens and has taught me a lot about nutrition, in particular protein as he also does weights and wants more protein at times. I, like yourself, didn't realise there is still protein in things like a slice of bread. It's quite simple to check on nutrition labels and increase if necessary. Aldi do some high protein granola which he likes even weetabix do a protein version if he likes that. A lot of the high protein puddings/drinks are milk based so wouldn't be suitable if he is allergic to milk but if he can eat yoghurt, as some people allergic to fresh milk can, then Skyr is naturally high protein without resorting to the artificially processed stuff.

Have you tried getting him involved in cooking? You could try making carrot and kidney bean burgers or falafel with him.
What about nut butters? If he wouldn't eat them on bread/toast then try as a dip for apple wedges or to make a satay sauce. If he would eat a vegetable curry you can add ground almonds to the sauce.
When he has pasta does he have any kind of sauce?
Could you switch butter fore cream cheese in sandwiches?

My DS was endlessly picky at that age but liked toast dipped in pea soup, or pea and (very finely diced) ham soup, both give a reasonable amount of protein.

If he will eat soup, you can add just about anything and disguise it. Home made chicken stock has plenty of protein too.

Alpro do a higher protein soya milk. Not everywhere seems to stock it but I’ve found it in the big Tesco. It’s a long life one.

Oh socca looks great - thank you! Will try ...

Socca is so addictive!
Good luck with it all. I was a very difficult eater as a child - though it was mostly issues with textures for me - so I'd suggest trying lots of things. Something clicked for me when my mum made a lot of different food for a party buffet and I found a couple of things I liked & improved from there.