Iron deficiency anemia is a common pediatric condition that results from the inability of the body’s iron stores to meet the needs of red blood cell production. According to the survey, the main population of iron deficiency anemia is infants and children from 6 months to 3 years old.
Why is there iron deficiency? It is the lack of iron reserves in the body at birth
More than 75% of the total iron in a newborn’s body is in hemoglobin, so the amount of iron in a newborn’s body mainly depends on the blood volume and the concentration of hemoglobin, and the blood volume is proportional to the body weight. Therefore, the lower the birth weight, the lower the total amount of iron in the body, and the greater the possibility of anemia. In addition, the transfusion of blood from the fetus to the mother via the placenta, or the transfusion of blood from one fetus to the other in twins, as well as the rupture of the placental vessels during delivery, may affect the iron content in the body of the newborn and cause iron deficiency anemia.
Dietary iron deficiency: Infants are fed mainly with dairy foods, and the iron content of such foods is extremely low. The iron content of breast milk is related to the mother’s diet and generally contains 1.5 mg/L. The iron content of cow’s milk is lower than that of human milk, and even less than that of goat’s milk. The absorption rate of human milk iron is higher than cow’s milk. 6 months old infants are already difficult to get sufficient iron from breast milk, so they should add iron-fortified formula and supplemental food in time, otherwise they are prone to anemia.
The growth rate is too fast: young children grow and develop rapidly, and their blood volume increases quickly. Under normal circumstances, the weight of infants increases 1 time when they reach 5 months, and 2 times when they are 1 year old. Premature babies increase even faster and can increase 6 times when they are 1 year old, so the need for iron of premature babies far exceeds that of normal babies, and the need for iron of premature babies is 177% more than that of full-term babies within 1 year after birth.
Symptoms of anemia in babies.
1. Color change: baby’s face is pale, lips and nails become lighter in color, etc. The nail bed is white, the blood color is slow to recover after pressing with the hand, and the nails are brittle and easily broken.
2, mental symptoms: the baby will often be lethargic, inattentive, emotional excitement, easy to move a little fatigue, etc.. Older children may also have headaches, dizziness and tinnitus, black spots in front of the eyes, etc., and shortness of breath after activity.
3. Taste changes: Babies with anemia may also have decreased appetite, bloating, nausea, and constipation. Severely anemic babies like to eat foreign objects, such as dirt and wall skin.
4. Development: The baby’s respiration and heart rate will be accelerated, and he or she will often suffer from stomatitis and tongue inflammation, dry hair, backward growth and even reduced intelligence, and lower immunity, making him or her susceptible to various diseases.
Hazards of anemia: In severe cases, it can lead to a variety of metabolic disorders in the body, thus affecting the functions of several organs, such as affecting the digestive and absorption functions of the digestive system, muscle movement functions, immune functions, etc.
Note: The impact of anemia on intelligence is irreversible, so iron deficiency anemia must be treated in time!
Warm tips.
Due to the small size of the baby, there are no obvious symptoms in appearance and behavioral performance in the initial stage and in mild anemia. Therefore, it is difficult to determine whether the baby is anemic or not. Parents can go directly to the hospital for routine blood tests and see the results of the laboratory: anemia is diagnosed when the hemoglobin is below 110 g/l for children aged 6 months to 6 years, and below 120 g/l for children aged 6-12 years. Once anemia is found, parents need not worry too much, as long as timely treatment, follow the doctor’s instructions and take medication on time can receive good results. Of course, the best way is to prevent it in time, starting from the baby’s diet, dietary supplementation for iron is more easily absorbed.
Animal liver: liver is rich in various nutrients and is the food of choice for the prevention of iron deficiency anemia. Each 100 grams of pig liver contains 25 mg of iron, and is also more easily absorbed by the body. Liver can be processed into various forms of food for children, such as liver puree is easy for infants to eat.
Various lean meats: Although the iron content in lean meats is not too high, the iron utilization rate is similar to that of pork liver, and it is easy to buy and process, and babies like it.
Animal blood: the utilization rate of iron in animal blood such as pig blood, chicken blood and duck blood is 12%.
Green leafy vegetables: Although the absorption rate of iron in vegetable foods is not high, it is also a source of supplemental iron. Give your baby some green leafy vegetables every day can also maintain a balanced nutrition. When eating leafy vegetables, blanch them in boiling water first to remove most of the oxalic acid, which facilitates the absorption of iron.
Sesame paste: Sesame paste is rich in various nutrients and is an excellent nutritional food for infants and children. PS: Sesame paste is not suitable for babies who are too young to eat it!
Soybeans and their products: every 100 grams of soybeans or soybean powder contains 11 mg of iron, with a body absorption rate of 7%.
Mullein and mushrooms: the iron content is very high, especially the fungus, people have been using it as a good blood tonic. In addition, seaweed, nori and other aquatic products are also good foods for preventing and treating iron deficiency anemia in children.