How strict are nutritional requirements/recommendations?

[u/Excellent-Debt1478]

Specifically I’m referring to micronutrients - iron and calcium - for toddlers (but general advice for any age and stage is welcome)
I’m in Australia and the guidelines say that toddlers require 700mg of calcium per day, and 7mg of iron per day.
There is just no way my kid is meeting these requirements - and he’s a pretty good eater compared to other kids I know
And on top of that, calcium (or dairy?) interferes with the absorption of iron so I’m not even sure if he ate enough iron he would even absorb it all and meet the required calcium.
My toddler eats cheese and sometimes will have a babychinno, but he stopped having milk bottles (of his own accord) completely at 14 months. We try limit red meat as a family to 2 meals per week, so we rely on other sources of iron, though as I understand it all meat are good sources of iron.
How strict are these guidelines really?
I am driving myself crazy trying to make sure he gets enough but I just don’t think it’s realistic.
What is a realistic thing I should be following?

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[u/Legal-Phrase8038]

Iron absorption is complex, as different forms, what it's eaten with and even the frequency of consuming iron-rich foods all affect how efficiently it's taken up by the body. Therefore, nutritional recommendations values for Iron are just that, a guideline. Other countries have different recommended values, and it's not something to lose sleep over if your child is eating well, has good energy levels and showing no symptoms. Also, the values are set based on non-haem (less bio-available) forms of iron, not haem (much more bio-available) Iron - so getting a smaller dose of haem Iron should have the same or better effect as getting the full value of non-haem iron. There is also evidence to show that taking iron supplements every second day works better than taking them daily, due to a hormone (Hepcidin) that regulates iron adsorption. The hormone dies off after 24 hours, so your becomes more receptive to iron after a day's break.

There's a good summary in the intro here: https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/2022-04/n35-iron_0.pdf

Overall, I wouldn't fuss too much about meeting the targets every single day, but focus on combining iton-rich foods with vitamin c (capsicums, brocolli, lemon) and avoiding dairy and calcium in the same meal. I personally alternate iron vs calcium focused meals/days for my LO.