What kind of food is good for babies with anemia?

Anemia in babies is very common in life. It is related to anemia that occurs during the fetal period and also to dietary intake after birth. Therefore, when a baby has anemia, the type of anemia must be determined. Treatment of anemia should be carried out according to the cause to alleviate the harm of anemia. So what kind of food is good for babies with anemia? There are many foods that children with anemia can eat, such as foods containing iron, complementary foods, etc. At the same time, the principle of iron supplementation should be emphasized.

Rule 1: Pay attention to adding foods high in iron

1. Let’s look at vegetables first: leafy vegetables have a high iron content, with rapeseed having the highest content, reaching 5.9 mg/100 g; followed by shepherd’s purse and amaranth; spinach, which is generally believed to be high in iron, has an iron content of only 2.9 mg/100 g, less than half of rapeseed.

2. The iron content of milk that babies drink every day is relatively low, only about 1/10 of that of livestock and poultry meat.

3. Let's look at meat products: animal liver and blood have the highest iron content, 10-25 mg/100 g, which is about 10 times that of livestock, poultry and fish (1-3 mg/100 g); the iron in eggs is mainly concentrated in the yolk, and the content is similar to that of livestock and poultry meat.

Rule 2: The effectiveness of iron supplementation depends on how well it is absorbed

1. It is not enough to simply look at the iron content in food when supplementing your baby’s iron. If the absorption rate is low, even if the iron content in the food is high, the effect of iron supplementation will not be very good. Iron in food exists in two forms: one is heme iron which is easily absorbed; the other is inorganic iron which is poorly absorbed.

2. The iron in the animal liver, blood, livestock and poultry meat, and fish mentioned above is heme iron, which is easily absorbed by babies and has a good iron supplement effect.

3. The iron in vegetables, milk and egg yolks is non-heme iron, which has a low absorption rate.

4. For a long time, almost all parents believe that spinach and egg yolks are good sources of iron. In fact, this is a misunderstanding. The iron in spinach and egg yolks is non-heme iron with a low absorption rate. In addition, spinach also contains a large amount of oxalic acid, which will affect the absorption of iron. It is no exaggeration to say that the iron-supplementing effect of more than ten kilograms of spinach is equivalent to that of 50 grams of pork liver.

5. Therefore, animal foods such as meat, fish, animal offal, etc., which are rich in heme iron and have a high absorption rate (10%-25%), are the first choice for iron supplementation.

Rule 3: Add complementary food in a timely and reasonable manner

1. When the baby is 4 or 6 months old, breast milk and cow's milk can no longer fully meet the needs of the body's growth and development, and complementary foods must be added to the baby.

2. Starting from the baby's 6th month, you need to gradually add iron-fortified rice noodles, meat puree, animal liver puree, animal blood puree, fish puree and other iron-rich foods.

3. Vegetables are also essential foods for babies who are adding complementary foods. Blanching leafy vegetables in boiling water can remove most of the oxalic acid, which is beneficial for the absorption of iron.

Rule 4: Vitamin C is a good partner for iron

Although the absorption rate of non-heme iron in vegetables is low, vitamin C can promote iron absorption, so if you pair it with fresh vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C, you can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Rule 5: Cooking methods are important

Studies have found that the iron in fermented foods is easier to absorb. Therefore, steamed buns, steamed cakes, and bread are more suitable for babies than noodles, pancakes, and rice.

When eating leafy vegetables, blanch them in boiling water first to remove most of the oxalic acid, which will allow your baby to absorb more iron.

What kind of food is good for babies with anemia? This article introduces to parents the food considerations for babies with anemia. Not all foods have the effect of supplementing iron. Even if the child eats iron-supplementing foods, the child may not absorb them well and the iron supplementation will fail. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to some precautions when supplementing iron to better help the baby supplement iron. At the same time, trace elements should be checked. Supplementation can be stopped after the trace elements return to normal.