Calcium supplementation for children is already a “cliché” for doctors and “familiar” for parents, so it seems that there is nothing more to talk about. In fact, science is developing, human understanding is deepening, yesterday’s conclusions are likely to have become “yellow flowers”, the need to constantly update knowledge and concepts, to “keep up with the times”, calcium supplementation is one of such topics. How many parents are busy with calcium supplementation for their babies nowadays? There is a joke that a flower pot fell on the street and injured three pedestrians, two of whom were clutching calcium tablets for their babies, while the other had no calcium tablets in his hand, but was clutching the money he was going to spend on them. The jokes are naturally not credible, but the calcium fever is indeed on the rise, and Ms. Liu is a typical example. “As a result, her daughter had frequent diarrhea, low weight, and even signs of malnutrition. The pediatrician reminded her that this was the result of too much calcium supplementation, which exceeded the physiological needs of children. What are the dangers of excessive calcium supplementation? In addition to what happened to Liu Liu, it can also cause low blood pressure in children and increase the risk of heart disease later in life; it can lead to high calcium concentrations in the urine, making it easy to form urinary stones. In addition, high calcium levels in babies can inhibit intestinal absorption of zinc, iron, copper and other elements, causing a variety of micronutrient deficiencies. Obviously, it is one of the basic skills of parents like Ms. Liu to know the calcium requirements of their babies at all ages and to have a good idea. For this reason, I will introduce the physiological calcium requirements of children at various ages, hoping that parents can be a calcium supplement “understander”. TIPS 1. 400 mg per day from birth to 6 months. 2.6~12 months, 600 mg per day. 3.1~5 years old, 800 mg per day. 4.6~10 years old, 1200 mg per day. 5.11~14 years old, 1200~1500 mg per day. When to start calcium supplementation Ms. Guo is also a “calcium fanatic” and consulted many mothers during pregnancy for advice on the “magic trick” of calcium supplementation for her baby, and pushed calcium powder into the nutrition list since the baby was born, hoping to feed a strong little man. The result was a different path from Ms. Liu’s. The result was the same as Ms. Liu’s: a malnourished child was fed. She was at a loss, not knowing what to do. In fact, what Ms. Guo encountered was the problem of when to start giving her baby calcium supplements. Medical experts believe that calcium supplementation to the baby should be careful, do not be too early, such as since the baby was born on the calcium supplementation, can make the baby diarrhea, digestive malabsorption and other conditions, and in serious cases lead to malnutrition. In addition, excessive intake of calcium can cause excessive calcification of the bones, premature maturation of the body’s bones, resulting in short head and other evils. Generally speaking, if the mother has leg cramps and incomplete intake of nutrients during pregnancy, or if the baby is not breastfed and has malnutrition, it is advisable to start calcium supplementation from 2 months after birth. If the baby is growing well, it is advisable to hold off, when the following “traces” appear before supplementation is not too late. TIPS 1, it is not easy to fall asleep, more difficult to enter a mature sleep. 2.Sweating, crying and waking up easily after falling asleep. 3, often irritable and restless during the day. 4.Late teething, or uneven teeth alignment. 5.Late toddler. 6.Paroxysmal abdominal pain, but no intestinal parasites are detected, and no intestinal disorders such as dyspepsia or enteritis exist. 7. Partial or anorexic eating. 8.Significantly enlarged finger joints, thin and weak knuckles. 9. Frequent unexplained twitching symptoms. 10.Nails are gray or have white marks. When to take calcium supplements? If it is a medicinal supplement (such as calcium tablets), it is fine to supplement until about 2 years old. The first is that when babies reach this age, outdoor activities increase, and the skin is exposed to sunlight to synthesize more vitamin D. The second is that they can eat a variety of foods, and the sources of calcium and vitamin D can be expanded; the third is that the growth rate is slower than before, and the incidence of rickets is greatly reduced, so there is no need to use calcium tablets, calcium powder and other pharmaceutical calcium supplements. However, dietary supplements (i.e. more calcium-rich foods, such as milk, soy milk, green leafy vegetables, etc.) should be continued for life. It is generally believed that children are most prone to calcium deficiency in winter and spring throughout the year. The mystery lies in the low temperature and the lack of outdoor activities, which makes it difficult for the baby’s skin to come into contact with sunlight, resulting in a decrease in the synthesis of vitamin D, which is a promoter of calcium absorption and utilization, so calcium supplementation is imperative in winter and spring, while it is not necessary in summer. Ms. Qu was one of the mothers who held this view. Surprisingly, before the summer was over, her little baby showed symptoms such as square head, hair loss at the back of the head, and excessive sweating, and the pediatrician told her that these were typical signs of rickets in infants. Medical research in recent years has shown that Ms. Qu’s view is outdated and that summer has become a high incidence of rickets in children as well as winter and spring. There are three reasons for this: First, although the summer sunshine is sufficient, the temperature is too high, and even the heat is unbearable, limiting the baby’s opportunity to go outdoors, and the chance of receiving sunshine decreases, not much more than in winter, which leads to a decrease in the synthesis of the sun hormone vitamin D, resulting in a lower absorption rate of calcium and causing a calcium deficiency in the body. Second, the summer heat, the body’s digestive juices secretion reduced, the baby’s appetite generally reduced, eat into the vitamin D and calcium elements reduced. Third, the hot summer climate, coupled with the high metabolism of babies, sweating, resulting in a large loss of calcium elements with sweat. The above three factors together, resulting in vitamin D and calcium elements “into less out of more”, the body’s reserves decline and “deficit”, rickets will be natural. Naturally, timely calcium supplementation has become an important part of summer children’s health care. A mother surnamed Lin asked me: “Doctor, I often give my baby calcium tablets, but still lack of calcium, what is going on?” The problem of calcium deficiency is likely to lie in the improper method of calcium supplementation. It is understood that some parents will mash calcium tablets and milk mixed together to eat, or before and after feeding the baby, resulting in the combination of protein and calcium in the milk to form a milk block, resulting in calcium can not be absorbed by the body; others only give the baby to take calcium tablets, not at the same time take vitamin D or sunshine, affecting the absorption and utilization of calcium; in addition, the dishes are too salty, too much sodium intake and a large number of calcium elements In addition, too salty dishes, too much sodium intake and a lot of calcium “crowded” out of the body, the same calcium supplementation effect is not good. So, how about the correct way to supplement calcium? It is recommended to grasp the four links: First, the food supplement must be selected right food. What foods are suitable for this task? Many parents favor animal bones, such as ribs soup, in fact, is “wishful thinking”. It turns out that the calcium content of ribs is low, 1 pound of ribs is only about 25 mg of calcium, plus the calcium in the bones and difficult to dissolve in the soup (the calcium in the soup is only equivalent to one tenth of the ribs), and the baby’s daily calcium needs at least 400 mg or more, it is clear that the ribs soup is difficult to hope. In comparison, milk is the best source of calcium, both in terms of content and absorption rate, with breast milk being the best, followed by formula, and then fresh milk. For example, for a baby within half a year of age, 600 to 800 ml of breast milk or formula per day is enough to meet the calcium needs of the developing body. This is one of the mysteries of breastfeeding advocated by scientists. In addition to milk, fish, eggs, beans, green leafy vegetables, etc. are recommended. Secondly, medical supplementation should be well-timed. For example, calcium supplements should not be taken with plant foods or fats and oils, because plant foods such as vegetables mostly contain salts such as oxalate, carbonate and phosphate, which can combine with calcium and prevent calcium absorption; and fats and oils generate fatty acids after decomposition, which can also combine with calcium and are not easily absorbed by the intestine. Secondly, in order to avoid milk interfering with calcium absorption, it is best to arrange calcium supplementation between feedings. Thirdly, regardless of whether it is a dietary supplement or a medicinal supplement, we should try to promote the absorption of calcium. As the saying goes: one friend is three helpers. Calcium is also like this, when it is eaten with food, still need a variety of factors to promote the body’s absorption and utilization, in order to fully play a role. Such as vitamin D, C, etc. can promote the absorption of calcium, meat and vegetable balance can improve the utilization of calcium (such as tofu fish stew, cereals and beans mixed food, etc.) and so on. Fourth, to reduce calcium loss. Some babies have a lot of calcium, but also pay more attention to increasing the intake of vitamin D and vitamin C, the results are still calcium deficient, then you have to reflect on whether the food with the science, it is likely that some improper food ingredients to increase the loss of calcium. 1, calcium and phosphorus ratio imbalance. Under normal circumstances, the ratio of calcium and phosphorus in the baby’s body is 2:1, in other words, calcium is two times more than phosphorus, if the baby’s recipe is exactly this ratio, then the calcium absorption rate is high. What about the actual situation? As parents mostly accommodate the baby’s taste, too much intake of carbonated beverages, cola, coffee, hamburgers, pizza, wheat germ, French fries and other foods, and these foods are phosphorus “rich mine”, resulting in a large number of phosphorus into the body, so that the ratio of calcium to phosphorus up to 1:10 or more, once more phosphorus, will be the body of calcium “Drive” out of the body, resulting in calcium deficiency. 2, calcium does not supplement magnesium. Calcium and magnesium as a good partner, when the ratio of 2:1, the most conducive to the absorption and utilization of calcium. Unfortunately, parents often focus on calcium, but forget to supplement magnesium, resulting in magnesium deficiency in the body, which in turn affects the absorption of calcium. Magnesium in the following food more, such as nuts (almonds, cashews and peanuts), soy, melon seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds), cereals (especially rye, millet and barley), seafood (tuna, mackerel, small shrimp, lobster), etc.. 3, every day big fish and meat. Excessive protein intake can also be “crowded out” calcium. Experiments show that: 80 grams of protein intake per day will lead to 37 mg of calcium loss; if the daily protein intake is increased to 240 grams, even with an additional 1400 mg of calcium, will lead to 137 mg of calcium loss, indicating that additional calcium supplementation can not stop the calcium loss caused by high protein. Therefore, the daily arrangement of large fish and meat for babies breaks the acid-base balance of food, no matter how to supplement calcium is also useless. 4, eat too much salt. The latest research found that the intake of salt in the diet is one of the main determinants of the amount of calcium excreted. In other words, the greater the salt intake, the worse the absorption of calcium, the more calcium excretion in the urine, reducing salt intake is equal to calcium supplementation. This is true for adults and also for babies. Especially for small children, who are more sensitive to salt, salt should not be given according to adult taste. Calcium and zinc should not be given at the same time. For several months, Ping Ping did not like to play with his friends and was quiet. His mother took him to the hospital for a blood test and the doctor said that both calcium and zinc levels were below normal. Eating newspapers is an omnivorous and secluded behavior, which is one of the typical symptoms of zinc deficiency. In other words, Ping Ping is suffering from malnutrition and needs calcium and zinc supplements. What is the best preparation to use? Mom suddenly remembered an advertisement on TV – spend the same amount of money and get two kinds of nutrition. Well, two for the price of one, let’s buy it. Was Ping Ping’s mom doing the right thing? The answer is no. Because she blindly followed the ad, she ignored the big question of whether her baby’s organism could absorb it. In the case of calcium and zinc, if they are mixed together, although zinc does not interfere with the absorption of calcium, calcium can reduce the absorption of zinc, so the two together actually only play the role of calcium supplementation, and the function of zinc supplementation is inhibited and cannot be performed. The mystery is that they compete with each other for receptors, resulting in an unreasonable ratio of receptors, so that one absorbs more and the other less. The correct approach is to take the two minerals separately, for example, calcium in the morning and calcium in the evening, and zinc at noon, with an interval of at least 3 hours between the two.