▲Children should pay attention to getting enough vitamin D for healthy growth; the picture is a situational photo, and the characters in the picture have nothing to do with this article. (Photo provided / Luo Fusong)
Text / Luo Fusong
From June to August this year, I met two infants (an 11-month-old girl and a 1-year-old 8-month-old boy) who were fed “food puree” or vegan food made from vegetables and nuts recommended by Internet celebrities. , suffering from rickets.
The clinical manifestations were convulsions of the whole body for 10 seconds or O-shaped legs on both feet, growth retardation, etc. Blood test confirmed severe hypocalcemia and vitamin D deficiency. After the appropriate amount of vitamin D treatment, the condition of the two infants gradually became stable.
Rickets is caused by an extreme lack of vitamin D. The peak incidence is between 3 and 18 months of age, and there are two types of manifestations. First, symptomatic hypocalcemia (including seizures) during rapid growth; second, chronic symptoms with O-legs in both feet, bone hypomineralization, growth retardation, asymptomatic hypocalcemia .
Vitamin D is obtained from two sources, and the skin can naturally synthesize it after exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet B (UV-B). Factors such as weather conditions, air pollution, sunshine duration, latitude of residence, and skin color can make it difficult for infants and young children to determine adequate vitamin D availability. Furthermore, UVB exposure in childhood is associated with skin cancers (basal and squamous cell carcinomas and malignant melanoma) later in life. Therefore, the guidelines of the Pediatric Medical Association recommend that infants under 6 months should avoid direct sunlight, minimize sun exposure activities, and use protective clothing and sunscreen.
Food sources of vitamin D are relatively high in oily fish (such as mackerel, sardines, salmon, tuna, saury, anchovies, etc.), the liver and fat of aquatic mammals, and egg yolks fed with vitamin D.
Eating a vegan diet or “food purees” made from vegetables and nuts is very low in vitamin D. Vitamin D protects against certain diseases, including infections, autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis), certain cancers (breast, ovarian, colorectal, prostate), and diabetes.
Sufficient daily vitamin D supplementation
Breast milk is generally low in vitamin D concentration and it is recommended that all breastfed infants start vitamin D supplementation within 2 months of life and older children who consume less than 1000 ml of vitamin D-fortified formula or milk per day , should be supplemented with 400 international units (IU) of vitamin D daily.
Vitamin D deficiency can also occur in all age groups, especially fast-growing children and adolescents, if they cannot consume enough vitamin D-fortified milk and foods (eg, fortified cereals and eggs, egg yolks) daily, they should receive 400IU of vitamin D supplements per day . In addition, infants and young children should have serum vitamin D concentrations higher than 20 ng/mL.
(The author is a physician from the Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Genetics, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Linkou)
☆Do not miss health news, follow by likefan page。
☆For more important medical news, please go toFree Health Network。
No need to draw, no need to grab, now use the APP to watch the news to ensure that you will win the lottery every dayClick me to download APP
Follow me to see how the event works