Methods for checking zinc deficiency in babies

Nutrition is the basis and key to maintaining the baby's physical development and life. Among them, babies nowadays often suffer from zinc deficiency. Everyone knows that nutrition is especially important for babies, and the nutrition of babies comes from dietary intake. Zinc deficiency is really a worry for parents, and they don’t know how to check for a better diagnosis, so many parents want to ask what trace elements can be used to check zinc deficiency in babies?

The serum zinc level of a newborn is 23 μmol/L (150 μg/dl) within 7 days after birth, and then gradually decreases to 17±2 μmol/L (112±12 μg/dl) after two months. Hair zinc is 3±0.3μmol/g, (193±18μg/dl). If serum zinc is less than 10 μmol/L (65 μg/dl) or hair zinc is less than 1.1 μmol/L (70 μg/g), it can be diagnosed as hypoglycemia. Alkali phosphatase (a zinc-containing metalloenzyme) can be reduced. Symptoms improve rapidly after zinc supplementation, which helps with diagnosis.

Clinical manifestations

Mental depression, loss of appetite, slow growth and development, and no weight gain. Skin and mucous membrane damage, such as lesions on the limbs, especially around the fingernails and toenails, may also cause erythema, herpes, erosions, scabs, and desquamation around the anus, perineum, and eyelid margins. There may be stomatitis, diarrhea, common hair loss, and delayed wound healing. Zinc deficiency impairs the utilization of vitamin A, which may lead to symptoms of vitamin A deficiency such as corneal opacity. Zinc is required for lymphocyte transformation. Zinc deficiency can cause thymus atrophy, low immunity and susceptibility to infection.

Taste disorder: not liking to eat, partial eating, anorexia, picky eating;

Skin diseases: dermatitis, stubborn eczema, rough skin prone to infection and suppuration, rash, herpes, paronychia, blepharitis, conjunctivitis, corneal opacity, and wounds that are difficult to heal;

Poor growth and development: slower growth and intellectual development than peers, shorter stature, excessive lead levels, and ADHD;

Decreased immunity: frequent colds and fevers, repeated illnesses, long-term illnesses, sweating, night sweats during sleep, viral myocarditis;

Others: nutritional dwarfism, mental retardation, white spots on nails, dry and yellow hair, corns on both sides of nails, biting nails, biting clothes, toys, hard objects, eating hair, paper scraps, raw rice, wall dust, dirt, sand and gravel, etc.

Adolescence: acne, blackheads, acne, dry and rough skin, myopia, decreased comprehension and memory, inattention, habitual miscarriage.

Oral diseases: geographic tongue, recurrent oral ulcers, chronic diarrhea, gastric ulcers, recurrent respiratory tract infections, tonsillitis, and bronchitis.

The above content gives you a very detailed introduction and answer to the question of what trace elements to use to check zinc deficiency in babies. I hope this will be of great help to many parents, and it will also serve as a reminder for parents to pay attention to their baby’s diet. This is related to the healthy growth of children, so it won’t hurt to understand it well.