Patient's question:
Hello, my child is 1 year and 4 months old and very thin. I am very worried, but I don't know what nutritious foods to give him every day.Doctor's answer:
Hello:Considering child malnutrition:
Malnutrition is a result of insufficient diet or adequate diet that the body cannot absorb or utilize properly. Since childhood is a critical period for physical growth, malnutrition poses significant harm to a child's physical development and health, and should be corrected promptly. The causes of malnutrition include the following:
1. Insufficient long-term feeding, such as insufficient breast milk without complementary foods or poor-quality artificial feeding with limited intake. Children's picky eating, overly simple breakfasts, etc.
2. Certain infants face feeding difficulties and digestive absorption disorders due to birth injuries, congenital deformities, or other reasons.
3. Children who have suffered from certain diseases, especially digestive system disorders, may experience poor appetite, weak digestive function, poor absorption, or long-term diarrhea and vomiting leading to nutritional loss, etc.
4. Children born with physical weaknesses, such as twins, multiple births, or premature birth, etc.
Symptoms
The child exhibits delayed development, short stature, dull skin and hair, pale mucous membranes, and no weight gain or even weight loss. Clinically, malnutrition patients are categorized into emaciation and edema types.
Emaciation type: Loose skin, reduced subcutaneous fat, thinness, and lack of elasticity; dry, yellow hair; frequent, small-volume stools with mucus. The child's intelligence and motor skills are delayed to varying degrees, with lower body temperature, slow pulse, and low blood pressure.
Edema type: Mild cases show only subcutaneous edema, while severe cases may have pitting edema in the genitalia, upper limbs, abdomen, and face (press