What to do if your baby is zinc deficient

Nowadays, many babies are generally zinc deficient, which may be because their daily diet cannot supplement the body's needs. Similarly, everyone knows that when babies reach a certain age, their bodies are in the process of development and they need to supplement various nutrients. This makes many parents very worried. I also know that zinc deficiency has a great impact on the child's body, so I want to ask what to do if the baby is zinc deficient?

Steps/Methods

Viewpoint

Children with a monotonous diet may be zinc deficient

Today, with zinc supplement advertisements flying everywhere, almost all parents suspect that their children are zinc deficient, but in fact, most parents are worrying unnecessarily or even misled by the advertisements.

status quo

Three indicators as the basis for diagnosis

At present, there is no unified definition and diagnostic criteria for zinc deficiency in children. Du Ping, director of the child health department at Guangzhou Children's Medical Center, told reporters that in child health clinics, most of the comprehensive diagnoses are based on three indicators: high-risk factors (premature birth, multiple pregnancy, diarrhea, etc.), clinical manifestations, and blood tests.

When children suffer from mild to moderate zinc deficiency, they may show symptoms such as slow growth and development, repeated infections, mild skin rashes, decreased appetite, etc. However, these symptoms are all lacking in specificity. Experts explain that these symptoms are not necessarily due to zinc deficiency, as these symptoms can also occur due to a lack of other trace elements. Clinically, it is obviously wrong to conclude that a child is zinc deficient based on symptoms alone.

Generally speaking, experts will also combine laboratory tests, that is, blood tests to make a diagnosis, because serum zinc can partially reflect the nutritional status of zinc in the human body, but this indicator also lacks sensitivity. Even in the case of mild zinc deficiency, this indicator is still normal. Therefore, the diagnosis of zinc deficiency in the absence of any indicator seems to be insufficient evidence.

Du Ping said that sometimes children with poor appetite and slow growth and development are given regular doses of zinc. After 1-2 weeks, if their appetite does improve, it can be determined that the child is indeed prone to zinc deficiency.

Tips

Eating lean meat to supplement zinc is the safest

Infants and young children under 2 years old are often diagnosed with "zinc deficiency" by outpatient doctors. Du Ping said that this is because infants and young children under the age of 2 grow rapidly and have a relatively high demand for zinc, making them a high-risk group for zinc deficiency.

Although breast milk is high in zinc, infants over 4-6 months old can no longer meet their zinc needs. They must obtain a certain amount of zinc from supplementary foods. If there is no lean meat, beef or other animal food in the supplementary food, it is easy to cause zinc deficiency in infants over 4-6 months old. In addition, long-term and repeated diarrhea and respiratory tract infections (fever, sweating) can also increase zinc loss, which is also one of the important causes of zinc deficiency clinically.

Experts suggest that parents should add some animal foods, such as beef and lean pork, when adding complementary foods to their children. These are the most readily available zinc-rich foods. The zinc content of fish is less than 1/2 of that of lean meat. The zinc content of shellfish such as oysters is high, but children often don't like this kind of fishy seafood.

At present, there are many varieties of zinc preparations on the market. Some parents will give their children zinc supplements based on advertisements. Director Du Ping pointed out that it is only necessary to supplement zinc preparations when a child is confirmed to be zinc deficient through a doctor's examination. Moreover, the doctor must decide the dosage and course of supplementation based on the specific situation of the child. This is because when supplementing zinc, it is also necessary to consider the mutual balance between various mineral elements such as iron, zinc, and copper. Indiscriminate zinc supplementation can cause copper deficiency and secondary anemia. The mutual interference between iron and zinc is more obvious. Therefore, if parents give their children zinc supplements indiscriminately, it is very likely to cause anemia in their children.

As for what to do if your baby is zinc deficient, we have explained it above. Parents who don’t know can learn more about it, and can also do it regularly to supplement their children’s bodies with nutritional elements. Parents are reminded that when their children are sick, they should not be nervous, but should remain calm and use the correct methods to help their children heal.