How to supplement iron for six-month-old babies

Iron is an essential element for children's growth. However, many children are prone to various symptoms of iron deficiency due to their picky eating and anorexia. Anemia is a typical example. As a parent, how to supplement children with enough iron is a very concerning issue. So, how do six-month-old babies supplement iron? Let’s take a detailed look at the methods of iron supplementation for children.

It turns out that relying solely on vegetables and rice to supplement children's iron is not enough. Because the human body's absorption rate of iron in vegetables and rice is only 1%, while the absorption rate of iron in meat is relatively high, reaching 10%-22%. If plants and meat are consumed at the same time, the absorption rate of iron in the plants can also be increased. But milk and eggs don't have this effect. The iron contained in eggs themselves has a relatively low absorption rate, but the iron content in eggs is relatively high, so it is also an important food for iron supplementation for infants. If babies are not given plenty of iron-containing complementary foods in time after 6 months, they are likely to develop iron deficiency anemia.

Whether a person is anemic or iron deficient cannot be tested from hair or peripheral blood (fingertips), but must be tested from venous blood. The blood must flow out smoothly, instead of being squeezed again and again, causing tissue fluid to seep into the blood sample and dilute the hemoglobin.

For infants under one year old, hemoglobin below 11 grams is considered anemia; for children over one year old, hemoglobin below 11.5 grams is considered anemia. However, infants will experience an unstable period of decreased hemoglobin between 6-10 months. If the child does not show symptoms such as lethargy, decreased appetite, restless sleep, pale complexion and nails, he or she must not be diagnosed with anemia. To determine whether the patient has iron deficiency anemia, venous blood should be drawn to test the iron content in the blood.

The above is an introduction to how to supplement iron for six-month-old babies. I hope it will be helpful to parents. To ensure the healthy growth of children, various trace elements are indispensable. Therefore, for trace elements like iron, parents must clearly understand the correct way to supplement them, so as to ensure that their children can grow up healthily.