What should I do if my child doesn’t like to eat? Does he need zinc supplement?

Some mothers in the group have been asking, \”My child has a bad appetite recently. She is absent-minded every time she eats and doesn\’t eat the food prepared for her. Is she lacking in zinc?\” Today, I would like to ask Teacher Li Liangli to tell you about the things that everyone is concerned about: the child doesn\’t like it. Is there a problem of zinc deficiency when eating? We often see this description in advertisements: children have a poor appetite, their meals are not tasty, and they are deficient in zinc. The baby is stunted, short in stature and zinc deficient. The baby has poor immunity, is always sick, and is deficient in zinc. …If a child doesn’t eat well, is it really zinc deficiency? In fact, the above problems are not typical manifestations of zinc deficiency, and various other factors can also cause these phenomena. Based on the above symptoms alone, it is inappropriate to label a child as \”zinc deficient\”! For example, if you have a single ingredient, don’t know how to mix it, handle it improperly, the meat is too old, half-hearted, have bad habits, interfere too much when eating, the tableware is too ugly, your appearance is too low, and you are always forced to eat… these may be children. The reason for not eating well! Is there any reason to blame zinc deficiency alone? 01 How to tell if you are deficient in zinc? Currently, there are no specific clinical symptoms and biochemical changes in zinc deficiency, and there are no sensitive and specific evaluation indicators to evaluate zinc deficiency. Zinc is not evenly distributed in the human body. There are more zinc in the liver, skeletal muscles, skin, hair, nails, etc., but very little in the blood. The blood zinc content of adults is less than 0.5% of the total, of which plasma accounts for 12 to 13%. However, plasma zinc is very easily affected by factors such as diet, infection, growth rate, and fluctuations of plasma zinc can reach 20% within 24 hours. And the concentration peaks at 8 a.m. and drops to very low levels in the evening. Therefore, to determine whether a baby is zinc deficient, relying solely on trace element test results is not reliable! It is necessary to refer to the biochemical indicators (zinc content in plasma/serum) recommended by authoritative organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) for combined use. At the same time, it is also necessary to combine the zinc content in daily meals and some functional indicators of child development (such as growth retardation) for joint assessment. 02 Common food sources of zinc. There are a wide range of food sources of zinc in daily life: mainly seafood, such as oysters, scallops, cuttlefish, squid, scallops, etc.; nut foods also have high zinc content, such as walnuts, almonds, Sesame seeds, etc.; in addition, animal offal and red meat are good sources of zinc. Red meat, in particular, has a relatively high daily usage rate and is also one of the foods recommended for babies to eat in the early stages of adding complementary foods. Other plant sources of zinc include mushrooms, wheat germ, soybeans, etc. According to surveys, about 50% of the dietary zinc sources in my country are rice noodles and their products, and animal sources are relatively low. However, the phytic acid content in cereals is high and the zinc utilization rate is very low; animal foods such as fish, meat, liver, kidney and shellfish are rich in zinc and have high utilization rate. Therefore, when we choose zinc-supplementing foods, we should give priority to the intake of animal foods. If your child usually eats meat and eggs well, there is basically no need to worry about zinc deficiency. 03 How to supplement it? ● 0-6 months old: The baby at this stage can get enough zinc through breast milk or formula milk; ● 6-12 months old: At this stage, the baby can get enough zinc every dayYou need 3.5 mg of zinc, and ensure 600-800ml of milk every day, plus an egg and a palm-sized piece of red meat (about 1 tael) to meet the daily recommended amount; ● After 1 year old: Daily zinc recommendation for babies after 1 year old The intake is 4 mg. On the basis of the previous diet, prepare more seafood and nut foods for your baby, such as beef, oysters, sea bass, clams, prawns, scallops, or animal liver once a week. Simple summary: If you are worried about your baby\’s zinc deficiency, generally foods high in iron contain a lot of zinc. You might as well let your baby eat more animal foods to ensure the nutritional supply of three meals a day. 04 What are the dangers of excessive supplementation? The safe intake range of zinc is wide, and the human body has an effective balance mechanism, so ordinary people are not prone to zinc poisoning. Acute zinc poisoning is less common and is generally seen in occupational poisoning. The possible symptoms are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever and drowsiness. However, long-term additional intake of zinc above the required level can interact with the metabolism of other trace elements and also affect the absorption of other divalent cations (such as calcium and iron). 05 What situations require supplementation? Healthy babies do not need zinc supplements, but there is one situation where they must be supplemented – diarrhea! There is sufficient evidence that giving zinc supplements to babies during diarrhea can significantly reduce the severity and shorten the course of diarrhea. Due to increased zinc loss through stool during acute diarrhea, zinc deficiency in the body increases. Zinc deficiency increases intestinal permeability, slows recovery of damaged intestinal mucosa, and lowers immune function, causing repeated recurrences of diarrhea, forming a vicious cycle. Therefore, WHO, UNICEF and other organizations jointly recommend: 20 mg of zinc daily for babies with diarrhea (10 mg of zinc for babies under 6 months old during diarrhea) for a total of 10-14 days, which can effectively reduce diarrhea. severity and shorten the course of the disease. In this case, any form of zinc salt can be chosen, including zinc sulfate, zinc acetate or zinc gluconate. The recommended zinc syrup concentration should be 10mg/5ml or 20mg/5ml; zinc preparations should contain 10mg or 20mg zinc per dose. element. Do not take iron supplements while supplementing zinc, as it will interfere with zinc absorption. In addition, if the child really eats plant-based food for a long time, such as drinking porridge, eating vegetables, and not eating meat, eggs, and milk for a long time; or taking regular calcium and iron supplements; or smoking passive smoke, he or she also needs to Supplement zinc appropriately under professional guidance.