New Hampshire is relatively well off, and its rate of food insecurity is much lower than the national average. But many Granite Staters still struggle to consistently access enough food to keep them and their families healthy and active.

What can a parent do once a child has been diagnosed with elevated blood levels of lead? Experts say a number of things may help – and the solutions are not always medical.

Dr. Alan Woolf, a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, director of the Program of Environmental Medicine and an expert on lead poisoning, says many pediatricians and nurse practitioners will start a child on iron drops, to discourage the body from absorbing lead.

A doctor’s visit showed that Matthew had blood lead levels of 4.6 micrograms per deciliter and Maureen 3.7. Months later, the levels had risen to 17 for Matthew and 18 for Maureen. At the time, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considered lead levels of 10 or higher to be “of concern,” though experts commonly say there’s no safe level of lead exposure in young children.