What does nutritional iron deficiency anemia look like in children? What are the symptoms?

Nutritional iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia in children. Long-term anemia in infancy and childhood will affect their lifelong intellectual development. Therefore, we must not only understand its symptoms, but also know how to prevent it in order to prevent it from happening. For infants and young children, even mild anemia may impair their intellectual development. So what should we do? Below, the editor introduces some preventive measures.

Nutritional iron deficiency anemia is the most common disease in infants and young children aged 6 months to 2 years. The iron stored in the baby's body can only meet the needs of growth and development within 4 months. However, babies aged 4-6 months old gain weight and height rapidly, and their demand for iron is also high. Therefore, iron deficiency anemia is prone to occur.

Symptoms of nutritional iron deficiency anemia:

Most symptoms and signs of mild anemia are not obvious. By the time obvious symptoms appear, it is usually moderate anemia, which is mainly manifested by pale upper lip, oral mucosa and nails; mild enlargement of the liver, spleen and lymph nodes; loss of appetite, irritability, inattention and intellectual impairment; and obvious anemia with increased heart rate, enlarged heart, and often complicated by infection. Laboratory tests showed that the red blood cells in the blood became smaller, the hemoglobin decreased, and the serum ferritin decreased.

Specific preventive measures for nutritional iron deficiency anemia:

1. Adhere to breastfeeding. The iron content of breast milk is the same as that of cow's milk, but its absorption rate is high, up to 50%, while cow's milk is only 10%.

Breastfed infants are less likely to suffer from iron deficiency anemia than those who are bottle-fed.

2. Add iron-rich complementary foods in time (such as egg yolks, fish paste, liver paste, minced meat, animal blood, etc.).

3. Add green vegetables, fruits and other foods rich in vitamin C in time to promote iron absorption.

4. When choosing complementary foods, you should choose iron-fortified foods.

5. Check hemoglobin regularly, once at 6 or 9 months of age, and every six months thereafter. Detect anemia in a timely manner.

The editor recommends that parents who have children with mild nutritional iron deficiency anemia should mainly rely on diet therapy, supplemented by drug therapy. Babies with anemia should be breastfed whenever possible. Develop good eating habits, eat a wide range of foods, prevent picky eating, and do not give children tea to prevent affecting iron absorption.