Reasons why babies don't like to eat at 16 months old

In daily life, many people always do not pay attention when taking care of their babies, especially in terms of diet. Many babies will show anorexia. So let us understand the reasons why babies don’t like to eat at 16 months old. What causes this?

main reason:

If your baby does not eat well, has a poor appetite, and has no appetite, and you have ruled out the possibility of playing too much, partiality, or picky eating, you should be alert to whether the child has zinc deficiency. You can take your child to the hospital to test serum zinc. The normal value of serum zinc is 75-150 mg/L. If it is lower than 75 mg/L, zinc supplementation is necessary.

Zinc plays a huge role, and deficiency can lead to poor appetite

Zinc is an essential trace element for the body. It is involved in the metabolic process of more than 50 enzymes and plays an important role in human energy metabolism, protein and nucleic acid metabolism, and endocrine hormone metabolism. When a child's body is deficient in zinc, his or her physical development, intellectual development, digestive function and immune function will be affected to a certain extent. The most prominent impact is digestive dysfunction, leading to symptoms such as poor taste, loss of appetite and anorexia.

The mechanism of zinc deficiency leading to loss of appetite

Zinc deficiency in the body can lead to reduced synthesis and secretion of phosphatase in saliva, easily causing hyperplasia of the oral mucosa, incomplete keratinization and difficulty in shedding, thus covering the small holes of the taste buds, causing children to lose their sense of taste, and chewing food is like chewing wax, with no taste, thus causing loss of appetite or anorexia.

Clinical manifestations of zinc deficiency

1. Decreased digestive function Zinc deficiency affects the renewal of taste bud cells and the activity of salivary phosphatase, causing hyperplasia and incomplete keratinization of the tongue mucosa, resulting in a decrease in taste sensitivity, and symptoms such as loss of appetite, anorexia, and pica.

2. Delayed growth and development Zinc deficiency directly affects nucleic acid and protein synthesis and cell division, and hinders the function of the growth hormone axis and the maturation of the gonad axis, resulting in growth and development stagnation, short stature, and delayed sexual development.

3. Reduced immune function Zinc deficiency can seriously damage cellular immune function and make infection more likely.

The above article gives you a detailed introduction to the reasons why babies don’t like to eat at 16 months old. I believe you already have a preliminary understanding of it. So in daily life, if such a situation occurs, you must find out the specific reasons in time.