What is iron supplementation for infants?
Why do you need iron supplementation?
Iron is an essential element in human body, accounting for 60% of human body? There is 70% iron in hemoglobin, which is one of the main raw materials for synthesizing hemoglobin. The main function of hemoglobin is to transport oxygen to various tissues and organs of the body, and to excrete carbon dioxide produced by tissue metabolism through lung breathing. Iron content directly affects the oxygen carrying capacity of hemoglobin. When iron deficiency occurs, the amount of hemoglobin in the blood decreases, the oxygen carrying capacity decreases, the number of oxygen cells delivered to various tissues of the body decreases, and the body will experience various discomforts, such as memory loss, inattention, and decreased immune function.
Infant iron supplement
Newborn babies mainly drink breast milk or milk powder. In order to ensure the quality of milk, mothers need to pay attention to iron-containing foods. After the baby starts to add complementary food in 4-6 months, the mother needs to pay attention to giving the baby some iron-containing complementary food. If the baby is seriously deficient in iron, it needs to be tested for trace elements and then supplemented according to the doctor's advice.
Symptoms of iron deficiency in infants
Mothers can effectively avoid iron deficiency anemia if they pay attention to the following points.
1. Look at the complexion: the complexion and nail roots have turned white in a large area, and the lips and tongue are white or reddish, and the baby is often listless.
2. Look at the amount of activity: the baby is too lazy to be tired, his legs and feet are weak, and he is easily distracted and impatient when looking at things.
3. Look at the appetite: the baby doesn't like to eat, is picky about food, and drinks plenty of water.
4. Look at immunity: Every time the flu comes, the baby will get sick, the immunity will become lower, and various infected viruses will follow.
5. Look at the mood: the baby's mood begins to be agitated, and his temper begins to be more extreme, always noisy.
If the baby has the above symptoms, parents are advised to take the baby to see a doctor as soon as possible to avoid the deterioration of the condition.
Causes of iron deficiency in infants
1. Less iron comes from the mother.
Before the baby leaves the mother, especially about three months before delivery, he can get iron from the mother through the placenta, and the fetus will absorb a lot of iron from the mother and store it in his own body for use after leaving the mother. Generally speaking, iron obtained by the fetus from the mother can meet the needs of hemoglobin synthesis in the first half of the baby's life. If pregnant women suffer from severe iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy, the iron content stored by infants will be reduced. If there are multiple births and premature births, iron storage will be insufficient, which will eventually lead to iron deficiency in infants.
2. Insufficient iron absorption
Iron, whether in breast milk or milk powder, the iron content can't reach the weight required by the baby's body metabolism, especially after six months, the demand for iron will gradually increase. If breast milk and milk powder are used alone, iron deficiency anemia is more likely to occur after a long time. Therefore, it is necessary to add iron-rich complementary food to infants in time.
3. Iron supply is insufficient.
Children will reach the critical period of physical development at about one year old, and the growth rate is three times that of the newborn. The faster the body develops, the more iron it needs. If the absorption of iron can't keep up with the development speed of the body, and there are few iron-containing foods in the diet, the baby will suffer from iron deficiency anemia, especially premature infants.
4. Iron absorption disorder
If the baby is unwell, it will cause long-term diarrhea and intestinal malabsorption, which will affect the body's absorption of iron and lead to iron deficiency anemia.
The harm of iron deficiency in infants
Iron is very important to the human body, especially to babies who are still in infancy. After the baby is four months old, neither breast milk nor milk powder can meet the needs of physical development. If iron is not supplemented in time, it may endanger the baby's health.
So, what are the hazards of iron deficiency in infants?
1. The baby is often sick, mostly because the baby's resistance is getting worse. Iron deficiency can directly cause cellular immune dysfunction, and cellular immune deficiency is the leading factor for the deterioration of baby's immunity.
2. Iron deficiency has a great influence on the secretion of gastric acid and the absorption of fat. If the baby doesn't like eating, anorexia, etc. It is related to indigestion. Too little gastric acid secretion or too little fat absorption can lead to indigestion in your baby. Iron deficiency will weaken the baby's digestive ability.
3. Iron deficiency directly affects the oxygen uptake function of hemoglobin, so that oxygen cannot be supplied to various tissues and organs of the body in time. If the tissue lacks oxygen, the baby will have shortness of breath and rapid heartbeat. , will make muscle weakness.
4. Once the baby is anemic, the oxygen intake will decrease, which will affect the intellectual development. Studies have found that the oxygen consumption of adult brain accounts for 20% of the body's oxygen consumption, while that of infant brain accounts for 50% of the body's oxygen consumption. Studies have found that the baby's memory loss or inattention is related to the baby's brain tissue hypoxia.
What does the baby eat to supplement iron?
Iron supplementation can only be faster, more effective and safer through diet. So, what can you eat to supplement iron in your daily life?
food
1. Animal liver
Baby eating animal liver is the first choice for iron supplementation, which is rich in iron, easy to digest and absorb, and not easy to be sensitized, which is very beneficial to baby's imperfect stomach. The liver containing the most iron is pig liver, followed by sheep, cattle and chicken liver. Mothers need to pay attention to the fact that eating animal livers needs to be cautious, because animals themselves are prone to accumulate toxins, so you must choose a safe and hygienic seller when buying.
2. Egg yolk
It is found that the most common food eaten by housewives is egg yolk, which is also rich in other nutrients. It is particularly convenient to eat and is a good choice for baby complementary food.
3. Blood tofu
Blood tofu refers to blood clots formed by cooking and drying animal blood. The iron content in animal blood is particularly high, which is 10 times that of pig liver with the same volume, and it is easily absorbed by human body, so it is a good product for enriching blood and supplementing iron. However, the effect of iron on human body is limited, and the iron content of blood tofu has far exceeded the necessary amount of human body, so we should be careful when eating blood tofu.
4. Auricularia auricula
The iron content of Auricularia auricula is nearly 5 times higher than that of pig liver and 30 times higher than that of spinach, and the iron content per 100 g is nearly 98 mg. Although the iron content of Auricularia auricula is high, the absorption rate of human body is relatively low, and Auricularia auricula can moisten intestines, so it is not suitable for eating if the baby's stomach is weak.
cookbook
1. Sesame paste ketchup
Ingredients: eggplant, sesame sauce, salt.
Exercise:
(1) Wash the eggplant with clear water first, and then peel it. Cut into small pieces with a knife, prepare a drawer pan, and then steam the eggplant pieces in the drawer pan.
(2) sprinkle that salt prepared in advance into the sesame paste and start stir. If it is too thick, you can add some water and stir it into a paste.
(3) Take out the steamed eggplant pieces, pound them with tools for a while, and put them into the mud.
(4) Pour the sesame paste in (2) and mix well before feeding.
2. Egg soup at the end of liver
Ingredients: pork liver, eggs, salt, chopped green onion, sesame oil.
Exercise:
(1) Before eating pork liver, you must blanch it with boiling water, then chop it up and put it in a container for preparation.
(2) Beat the prepared eggs and liver pieces into a vessel together, and then add chopped green onion, fine salt, etc. For seasoning. If it is not uniform, add a small amount of water and stir well. Steam the utensils in the drawer.
(3) Add a little sesame oil to the egg custard.
Fried diced meat
Ingredients: eggs, cooking oil, tofu, cucumber, chopped green onion, salt, starch.
Exercise:
(1) Grease the plate and get ready.
(2) The egg is cooked, and the yolk and the egg white are separated by tools.
(3) Mash the egg yolk, stir it evenly, put it in a dish in (1), steam it in a drawer for about four minutes, take it out and cut it into cubes.
(4) Dice the prepared tofu and cucumber.
(5) Cut the onion into powder, put the chopped onion into the oil in the pot, then add ingredients and a little water to prevent the pot from being burnt.
(6) add salt to taste, and finally add starch.
How to prevent iron deficiency in infants
1. The source of iron is mainly provided by the mother before the baby is born, so pregnant women must pay attention to storing iron during pregnancy and eat more foods with high iron content, especially in the late pregnancy, which requires a lot of iron to be absorbed by the fetus. Pregnant women need about 15mg of iron every day. If necessary, they can take drugs to supplement iron on the advice of doctors.
2. Try to breastfeed the baby after birth, and the nutrients in breast milk are more conducive to the baby's absorption. But at this time, mothers should pay attention to their diet and try to supplement a variety of trace elements when their physical conditions permit, so that the baby can absorb them.
3. When the baby is four months old, you can try to add complementary food. At first, egg yolk was suitable, easy to digest and rich in iron, killing two birds with one stone. After six months, you can start to add more iron-rich foods to your baby, such as liver mud, minced meat and floss.
4. Premature infants should be supplemented with iron according to the doctor's advice, starting from about 5 months, while full-term infants can be supplemented with iron from 6 months if they have iron deficiency.
Matters needing attention in iron supplementation for infants
Before the baby is diagnosed with iron deficiency, blind iron supplementation does more harm than good, and may even be dangerous. Therefore, the following points must be paid attention to when using iron agent:
1. Distinguish trivalent iron from bivalent iron.
Iron exists in nature in the form of bivalent iron and trivalent iron, bivalent iron is easily absorbed by human body, while trivalent iron is not easily absorbed. It is necessary to convert trivalent iron into free divalent iron in order to be better absorbed. Vitamin C and gastric acid can convert trivalent iron into divalent iron, which can be better absorbed. Therefore, it is best to take vitamin C and acidic food at the same time when supplementing iron. On the contrary, foods containing tannic acid, such as strong tea and traditional Chinese medicine decoction, can't be eaten with iron food, because tannic acid will react with iron to form iron tannic acid precipitate, which hinders the absorption of iron by human body. Antacids can neutralize gastric acid and also affect the absorption of iron. Ferrous sulfate, ferrous phosphate, ferrous fumarate and ferrous gluconate in the existing iron supplement preparations all belong to ferrous, which can be well absorbed. The chemical properties of ferrous iron are active in nature. If left for a long time, ferrous iron will become trivalent iron, which will affect the absorption, so ferrous agent should not be put on hold for a long time.
2. According to the severity of the disease, choose iron agent reasonably.
(1) patients with mild anemia often choose ferrous sulfate;
(2) Drinking dextran with iron is a good medicine for patients with severe anemia. Patients with severe iron deficiency or heart disease can take it as an ideal relief.
(3) Ferric citrate syrup can treat anemia in infants. Although ferric citrate is trivalent iron, it is very soluble in water. After taking it, it can be reduced to ferrous iron under the action of gastric acid and vitamin C, so it can be better absorbed.
3. Grasp the effective medication time.
Gastrointestinal peristalsis becomes slow within half an hour after eating. At this time, if you take supplements, the retention time of iron in the duodenum will increase. The duodenum is the main organ to absorb iron, where the content of gastric acid increases and is more easily absorbed by the human body. At the same time, the gastrointestinal tract contains a lot of food, which can reduce the excessive stimulation of iron on the gastrointestinal tract.
If taken before meals, it will irritate the gastric mucosa and hurt the stomach. In addition, milk containing more trace elements should not be taken with iron, which will hinder people's absorption of iron and the effect is not obvious.
4. Master the dosage and course of treatment
For patients with iron deficiency anemia, if they are not treated reasonably after the symptoms appear, they will be in an anemia state for a long time and cannot recover, so patients should pay attention to the effective dose during the treatment.
5. Eat more acidic diet during iron supplementation.
Iron exists in the form of bivalent iron, while hydrochloric acid mostly exists in acidic diet. The existence of hydrochloric acid is more conducive to the reduction of trivalent iron, and the absorption rate of iron ions will increase, so you should eat more acidic diet during taking iron.
note:
Iron supplementation should adhere to the principle of small dose and long-term effect. If you take iron in large doses, it will lead to iron poisoning. In particular, if excessive iron intake, the probability of acute iron poisoning will be greater. At the same time, we should pay attention to the influence between iron supplementation and other drugs, and take it according to the doctor's advice when necessary. Baby often excretes black feces when taking iron supplements, and occasionally constipation occurs. This is a normal phenomenon and parents need to pay close attention.