What is anemia in infants and young children?

Infants and young children have poor physical resistance and are a high-risk group for diseases. New mothers need to understand how to keep their babies healthy, as well as their basic precautions and treatments, to ensure their health to the greatest extent possible. Anemia in infants and young children is a common disease. If preparation is not done well in advance, the probability of the child getting the disease is high, so new mothers must master the relevant knowledge about anemia in infants and young children. To this end, let us understand what anemia is in infants and young children.

Newborns: less than 145g/L; under 6 years old: less than 110g/L; over 6 years old: less than 120g/L, can be diagnosed with anemia. General manifestations of anemia in young children

The symptoms of anemia are related to its cause, rapidity of onset, and severity. Generally, pale skin and mucous membranes are prominent manifestations. Children may experience symptoms such as rapid heartbeat, rapid breathing, loss of appetite, nausea, abdominal distension, lack of energy, inattention, and irritability. Children with a long course of illness may also experience fatigue, dry hair, malnutrition, and physical retardation. Blood tests, bone marrow smear tests, etc. can help with the diagnosis.

Common causes of anemia in young children

1. Anemia caused by poor hematopoiesis, such as deficiency of folic acid, vitamin B12, iron and other substances required for hematopoiesis, or aplastic anemia, infection, malignant tumor, blood disease, etc. can all lead to inhibition of bone marrow hematopoietic function.

2. Hemolytic anemia can be caused by abnormal factors inside or outside the red blood cells, which leads to massive destruction and dissolution of red blood cells, resulting in anemia.

3. Anemia caused by excessive blood loss may be acute blood loss such as massive bleeding due to trauma, hemorrhagic diseases, etc., or chronic bleeding such as anemia caused by ulcer disease, hookworm disease, intestinal polyps, etc.

How to prevent and treat anemia in children

1. Reasonable feeding is an important way to correct anemia. You should give your baby more iron-rich foods, such as animal hearts, livers, kidneys, blood, beef, egg yolks, spinach, soy products, black fungus, red dates, etc., and correct your picky eating habits. Breastfeeding is encouraged because the iron content in breast milk is higher than that in cow's milk and is easier to absorb. And pay attention to adding supplementary food in time. For example, for babies aged 3 to 4 months, you can give them 1/4 egg yolk, and then gradually increase it to 1 egg yolk. For babies aged 5 to 6 months, add vegetable puree, and after 7 months, add minced meat or liver puree. Try to increase the baby's appetite and prevent indigestion.

2. Take iron preparations under the guidance of a doctor. It is best for infants to take the medicine between meals to facilitate absorption, because iron is irritating to the gastric mucosa and can easily cause nausea and vomiting after taking it. At the same time, avoid taking it at the same time as milk calcium tablets, and do not feed it with tea, so as not to affect the absorption of iron. The dosage of iron preparations should be followed according to the doctor's advice. Excessive dosage may cause poisoning.

3. The living environment should be quiet and the air should be well ventilated. Since children with anemia have low resistance and are prone to infection, such as indigestion, diarrhea, pneumonia, etc., they should try to avoid crowded public places and be careful not to contact other patients to avoid cross infection, as infection can aggravate anemia.

4. Patients with severe anemia are prone to palpitations and shortness of breath after activities and must rest in bed. If necessary, they also need oxygen and blood transfusions.

Anemia in infants and young children is generally nutritional anemia, most of which manifest as iron deficiency anemia. In most cases, this may be related to poor supplementary food. If your hemoglobin level does not rise after 1 to 2 months of iron supplementation or dietary therapy, you need to go to a professional hospital to check whether it is non-iron deficiency anemia, that is, anemia caused by other reasons, because iron deficiency anemia will usually rise after 1 to 2 months of treatment.

It should be noted here that the main diet of younger infants and young children comes from breast milk, so the prevention of anemia in infants and young children needs to be passed on to the infant through the mother. In addition, if the mother pays attention to dietary nutrition and active exercise and conditioning during pregnancy preparation, conception and after delivery to ensure the health of the child, it is the best way to prevent anemia in infants and young children.