Harm of iron deficiency Iron participates in hematopoiesis, forms hemoglobin and myoglobin, and participates in oxygen carrying and transportation. Iron is also the active center of many enzymes. Experiments show that the bactericidal ability of neutrophils decreases and the function of lymphocytes is damaged when iron deficiency occurs, and the immune function can be improved after iron supplementation. In neutrophils, the swallowed bacteria need to be killed by superoxide dismutase. However, this enzyme system can't play a role in iron deficiency. Iron deficiency and insufficient hemoglobin synthesis can cause anemia, which is manifested as listlessness, pale face, pale nails, pale lips and so on. Because the function of red blood cells is mainly to transport oxygen to various tissues, anemia will cause insufficient oxygen supply to tissues and bring damage to various tissue systems.
If the child is short of iron for a long time, it will lead to the decline of the child's resistance, and some diseases such as colds and fever often appear. If the child gets some diseases for a long time, it will affect his psychology and make him feel inferior. Parents should usually give their children more iron-containing food. Common iron-containing foods include animal offal and spinach.
The harm of baby's iron deficiency can also lead to mental activity and intellectual development damage and behavior changes. Such a baby loves to cry, is irritable, is insensitive to new things, is not excited about the environment, and does not like to pay attention to one thing for a long time. Because of lack of attention and persistence, it is considered as personality disorder and emotional disorder, and even as ADHD. When these babies do intelligence tests, their language and operation abilities are lower than those of normal children.
Iron deficiency can lead to anemia, loss of appetite, indigestion, low immunity, reduced activity and slow growth and development. Children are anorexic, and a few have pica (such as eating dirt and cinder), often accompanied by vomiting, diarrhea, stomatitis, glossitis, atrophic gastritis, gastric acid deficiency and so on. Especially in infancy, long-term iron deficiency will cause irreversible damage to the nervous system, leading to the decline of baby's memory and cognitive function and mental retardation.
How to supplement iron Generally speaking, if there is iron deficiency, iron supplement can be treated by drug supplement or food supplement. Regarding complementary food, you can eat more iron-containing foods and let children eat more pig blood, pig liver and lean meat.
Because the iron contained in animal food is easy to absorb, the iron contained in plant food is not easy to absorb, so if there is iron deficiency, it is best to eat more animal food, that is, eat more meat.