Pillow baldness = calcium deficiency? This issue is also controversial in the doctor circle, some doctors believe that children pillow baldness is caused by calcium deficiency, some doctors believe that children pillow baldness and calcium deficiency is not directly related.
The following is to say, occipital baldness or not to supplement calcium.
Many parents may notice that within a few months of birth, a circle of hair at the back of the child’s head has fallen out. The back of the child’s head is bare and unsightly, and when the enthusiastic people in the community see it, they may say, “Your child is lacking calcium, you need to take calcium supplements and go to the doctor.
The argument that occipital baldness is due to calcium deficiency comes from doctors. When we read textbooks, it is the pillow baldness as a symptom of rickets, that pillow baldness is a lack of calcium, rickets performance. Therefore, when parents come to see their children for pillow baldness, the doctor will prescribe cod liver oil and calcium tablets to the child.
So far, the people have been convinced that the pillow baldness should be supplemented with calcium. Sometimes it also happens that the doctor who doesn’t prescribe cod liver oil and calcium tablets for occipital baldness is not a good doctor.
What is the truth? Let’s first understand why occipital baldness occurs.
Most occipital baldness occurs in the occipital area, which is the area that touches the pillow and mattress, and the child spends more time sleeping, so it is natural for someone to infer that occipital baldness is due to friction on the scalp that causes hair loss.
Some domestic experts believe that children with rickets sweat a lot, and that children who are uncomfortable while sleeping like to rub their scalp, so they form occipital baldness. According to such an inference, if the child is not lying on his back, he should not have occipital baldness.
The truth is that there is growing evidence that occipital baldness is a physiological phenomenon, not a result of friction.
1. Occipital baldness is a cyclical phenomenon of hair growth
An article published in 2005 in the European Journal of Pediatrics describes the process of fetal hair change.
20 weeks of fetal gestation: appearance of fetal hair on the scalp.
about 5 months of gestational age: the fetal hair on the frontal and parietal bones passes from the anagen phase to the resting phase, while the fetal hair on the occipital region does not enter this cycle
7 to 8 months of gestational age: the fetal hair on the top of the frontal bone is shedding and then begins to grow a second batch of hair, while the fetal hair on the occipital area is retained until the prodromal period when it enters the resting phase
8～12 weeks after birth: the fetal hair on the occipital area starts to fall out, which coincides with the occipital baldness that mainly appears in children from 2 to 3 months old.
After birth, the child sleeps more and the friction in the occipital area is inevitable, which accelerates the shedding of the occipital fetal hair, so occipital baldness occurs.
However, this hair replacement process is not completely synchronized, as new hair is growing at the same time as the old hair is shed, so some children’s occipital baldness is not obvious.
Therefore, occipital baldness is a physiological phenomenon caused by the child’s hair replacement, not a disease, and occipital friction only accelerates this hair replacement process.
2. Pillow baldness is not related to sleeping position
In 2011, a statistical survey of 193 children showed that about 20.2% of the children had occipital baldness, and an analysis of the causes did not reveal a relationship with sleeping position.
The probability of occipital baldness is higher in children whose mothers are older than 35 years old, who give birth by cesarean section, and whose gestational age is older than 37 weeks.
3. Occipital baldness is not related to calcium deficiency
In 2004, a doctor in Qingdao analyzed more than 400 children and found that the incidence of occipital baldness was 42.1%, with the highest incidence occurring in children around 3 months of age and decreasing with age. This study also compared the serum calcium status of 40 children with occipital baldness with that of normal children, and there was no significant difference in the results.
Therefore, some doctors believe that occipital baldness is a physiological phenomenon in children and is not significantly related to calcium and vitamin D intake.
1. No need for unnecessary tests
Occipital baldness is a physiological phenomenon caused by the child’s hair replacement, not a disease, and has nothing to do with calcium deficiency. If there are no other symptoms, there is no need to go to the hospital, and there is no need to take blood tests, take pictures, or check bone density.
2. no special circumstances, no need for calcium supplementation
Unless the child is born prematurely or with low birth weight, breast milk and formula can basically meet the child’s calcium needs until the age of one.
400 IU of vitamin D supplementation daily starting a few days after birth for normal children.
after one year of age, a diet high in calcium, such as milk, will prevent rickets and no additional calcium supplementation is needed
Excessive calcium supplementation may lead to constipation in children, affect the absorption of iron and zinc, and increase the burden on the kidneys.
If the daily diet lacks the intake of calcium-containing foods, or if there are manifestations of rickets, then moderate calcium supplementation is needed.
However, equating occipital baldness with calcium deficiency and rickets has caused too many children to take unnecessary calcium supplements. Pillow baldness is not a disease, “universal calcium supplementation” is the disease!