Symptoms of vitamin deficiency in children

Vitamins are very important trace elements for the human body. If the human body lacks vitamins, metabolic reactions will occur, resulting in vitamin deficiency. Once vitamins are deficient, the child's immunity will decrease and various diseases will take advantage of the situation to invade. Therefore, it is very important to understand the symptoms of vitamin deficiency in children and solve the problem in time when it occurs. So, what are the symptoms of vitamin deficiency in children? Let’s take a look below.

1. Vitamin A deficiency

The child's skin becomes dry and rough, with small bumps all over the body, like chicken skin; the hair is sparse, dry, and dull, and the nails become brittle and changed in shape; the conjunctiva and cornea of ​​the eyes (commonly known as the black pupil) also develop lesions, with mild cases causing dry eyes, photophobia, and night blindness (commonly known as chicken eyes); severe cases causing black pupils to become turbid, ulcers to form, and finally perforation leading to blindness. People who are deficient in vitamin A generally have poor immune function and are susceptible to respiratory diseases such as colds.

2. Vitamin B1 deficiency

If infants and young children lack vitamin B1, they are likely to suffer from symptoms such as loss of appetite, indigestion, weight loss, slow growth, etc. If the deficiency is severe, they are prone to beriberi, edema, muscle atrophy, slow heartbeat, etc. Since vitamin B1 is also involved in carbohydrate metabolism and nerve conduction in the body, and is involved in the composition of pyruvate decarboxylase in the body, when it is deficient, the activity of this enzyme decreases, the pyruvate level in the blood increases, the body's energy production decreases, and the brain's energy metabolism is impaired, resulting in pathological changes in the nervous system and other systems.

3. Vitamin B2 deficiency

The facial skin is reddish, greasy, and scaly, which is medically known as seborrheic dermatitis. It not only affects beauty but also attracts bacterial invasion and causes folliculitis. At the same time, the tongue, lips, scrotum and other parts of the body may also become inflamed, causing pain and discomfort.

4. Niacin deficiency

Niacin deficiency makes human skin particularly "delicate". Once exposed to the sun, it will develop rashes and the facial skin will become thicker and rough. Doctors call this pellagra. In addition, symptoms such as diarrhea, headache, insomnia, irritability, and dementia may also occur.

5. Vitamin C deficiency

Vitamin C plays an outstanding role in hematopoiesis, protecting blood vessels and promoting brain development. If the intake is insufficient, the first symptoms will be decreased appetite, anemia, bleeding of the gums, nasal mucosa and skin, etc. It also has an adverse effect on children's IQ, causing their development to lag behind that of children of the same age.

It can be seen that the symptoms of different vitamin deficiencies are different. The above introduces the symptoms of vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B2, niacin and vitamin C deficiency respectively. If symptoms of vitamin deficiency occur, you can refer to the above content to determine which vitamin is deficient.