Etiology: lack of vitamin C.
1. Insufficient intake. If the pregnant mother has proper nutrition and vitamin C reserve at birth, the vitamin C content in umbilical cord blood plasma is 2-4 times higher than that in maternal plasma, so the incidence of infants under 3 months is less. However, if the pregnant mother lacks vitamin C in her diet, the newborn will also suffer from scurvy. Normal human milk contains about 40 ~ 70 mg/L (4 ~ 7 mg/dl) of vitamin C, which can meet the needs of ordinary babies.
2. Need to increase When the metabolic rate increases, the demand for vitamin C increases. When the growth is active, the content of vitamin C in body tissues drops sharply. Premature infants grow and develop rapidly, and the demand for vitamin C is relatively greater than that of normal infants, so they should be supplemented more.
3. Other factors, such as long-term intake of a large amount of vitamin C, its catabolism and renal excretion increase the plasma vitamin C concentration. If a large amount of vitamin C is suddenly stopped, scurvy will occur. Take a lot of vitamin C during pregnancy for a long time, even if the newborn takes vitamin C regularly every day after birth, it may still suffer from scurvy.