The incidence of iron deficiency anemia in children is as high as 20% to 30%, especially in children under two years old, which has also become a major problem for parents. So why is it that babies are so susceptible to iron deficiency? What should we do if our baby is deficient in iron? Let's find out!
Causes of iron deficiency anemia
1. Congenital storage is insufficient: during the fetal period, the baby obtains iron from the mother through the placenta, especially in the third trimester of pregnancy. Therefore, premature babies, twins, multiples and mothers with severe iron deficiency can lead to a lack of iron storage in the baby.
2. Insufficient iron intake: human milk, cow's milk, grain iron content are low, such as not timely addition of iron-containing complementary foods, will lead to insufficient intake of iron, it is particularly prone to iron deficiency anemia.
3. Growth and development factors: Babies grow and develop rapidly in infancy, and with the increase of weight, blood volume also increases. When the intake of iron can not keep up with the rate of weight gain, it is prone to iron deficiency anemia.
4. Iron absorption disorders: If the food combination is not reasonable, it will affect the absorption of iron, resulting in iron absorption disorders.
5. Excessive loss of iron: Normal infants excrete more iron per day than adults, intestinal polyps, hookworm disease, etc. will lead to chronic blood loss, so that iron loss is too much.
So how do we judge in life
Is your baby iron deficient?
1. Look at the face: the baby's hair is yellow, the eyelid conjunctiva is pale, the face and lips are pale, and the nail wall is thin and easy to break.
2. Look at appetite: bad appetite, picky eating, even pica, developmental delay.
3. Look at the spirit: mental atrophy or irritability, do not love activities, easy fatigue, lack of concentration. Memory declines and grades decline.
4. Look at immunity: immunity is low, and babies are prone to illness when changing seasons.
When the above symptoms occur, please bring your baby to the hospital in time!
Diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia
1. First determine whether it is anemia
Hemoglobin from the lower normal limit to 90 g/L is mild anemia
60 to 30 g/L is severe anemia
90 to 60 g/L is moderate anemia
2. Secondly, look at whether the cell morphology of anemia is small cell hypochromic anemia
i.e. mean red blood cell volume (MCV)
3. Look at whether it is iron deficiency anemia
(1) Peripheral blood smear: visible red blood cells vary in size, mostly small cells, and the central light stain area is enlarged.
(2) Bone marrow image: hypertrophic and active, mainly moderate and late young erythrocyte hyperplasia. Each stage has fewer erythrocytes, less cytoplasm, and a bluish stain, indicating that cytoplasmic maturation lags behind the nucleus.
(3) Examination of iron metabolism
Serum ferritin: it can be a more sensitive reflection of iron storage in the body and is a sensitive indicator for diagnosing the period of iron deficiency. When serum ferritin
Erythrocyte free protoporphyrin > 0.9umol/L suggests intracellular iron deficiency
Serum iron and transferrin saturation decreases and total iron binding increases
(4) Bone marrow can stain iron: observation of the number of ferrocytes in red blood cells < 15% suggests a decrease in stored iron
If the child is really iron deficiency anemia
What exactly to do?
1. Removing the cause is essential!
If the baby does not add complementary foods in time, it needs to be added in time
Babies with partial eating habits should be improved
Babies with chronic blood loss disease need prompt treatment
2. Appropriate supplementation of iron
Divalent iron salts are easier to absorb, so divalent iron salt preparations are generally used clinically. Such as: ferrous succinate.
Small reminder: Iron needs to be taken orally between meals. Because taking iron on an empty stomach may have symptoms of gastrointestinal irritation, taking the medicine immediately after a meal is not conducive to iron absorption. Therefore it is necessary to have between meals. Iron and vitamin C are good for iron absorption, while milk, tea, coffee, and calcium will greatly affect the absorption of iron.
3. Eat more iron-rich foods
In addition to medicines, many foods in daily life are also rich in iron, and you can eat more iron-containing foods.
How to prevent iron deficiency anemia in your baby?
1. Promote breastfeeding: Although the content of iron in breast milk and cow's milk is not high, the absorption and utilization rate of iron in breast milk is high, so breastfeeding can better prevent iron deficiency anemia.
2. Timely addition of complementary foods: Whether it is breast milk or artificial feeding infants, should be timely (4-6 months old) to add iron-rich and high iron absorption of complementary foods
3. Infant food should be supplemented with an appropriate amount of iron to strengthen
4. For premature babies, especially very low-weight premature babies, iron should be given for prevention from about 2 months.
The above pictures are from the Internet
bibliography:
Wang Weiping, Sun Kun, Chang Liwen, Pediatrics[M].9th Edition.People's Medical Publishing House
WANG Zhitao,HUANG Zhongyan,SUN Jia. Analysis of influencing factors of infant trophic iron deficiency anemia and analysis of prevention measures[A].Chinese Journal of Social Medicine, Vol. 32, No. 5, October 2015
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Author: Zhang Jiamei
Yuhang Street Community Health Service Center, Yuhang District, Hangzhou
The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. The standardized training base for general practitioners is training trainees
BCY1
Instructor: Juanjuan Liu
Reviewer: Ying Meike