What is the reason for a child's sternum to be high?

If a child has a high sternum, you should pay attention to it. This may be caused by calcium deficiency in the child. If you are worried, you can go to the hospital for an X-ray examination. You should eat more calcium-containing foods. If a child is calcium deficient, it will affect the child's growth. The impact on the child's growth and development is relatively large. When children are calcium deficient, they often show some symptoms. Parents should understand these symptoms of their children.

Symptoms of calcium deficiency in children

1. Difficulty falling asleep and restless sleep

Night terrors and crying at night are signs of calcium deficiency in babies. Newborns who are calcium deficient often wake up suddenly at night and cry incessantly.

2. Night sweats

The head sweats profusely after falling asleep, and the sweating is more obvious after crying.

3. Abnormal temperament

Babies who lack calcium will have strange tempers and often show symptoms such as irritability, crying, and restlessness, making them difficult to look after.

4. Late eruption and uneven tooth arrangement

Some babies still have no teeth when they are one and a half years old, or their teeth are underdeveloped, malocclusion is incorrect, the teeth are uneven, loose, or fall out prematurely.

5. Baldness circle on the pillow

Babies who are calcium deficient are prone to sweating, and usually the hair on the back of their head is worn away, forming baldness on the back of their head. Baldness on the occipital area may partially reflect calcium deficiency, but it is not an absolute condition.

6. Delayed closure of the anterior fontanelle

The anterior fontanelle usually closes at the age of 1 to 1.5 years. Babies with calcium deficiency often still do not close after 1 and a half years old, resulting in a square head.

7. Growth retardation, late learning to walk, bone and joint deformities

Most children who are calcium deficient learn to walk at around one year old, or they may have "X" shaped legs or "O" shaped legs due to soft bones, loose and weak muscles, and leg bone pain.

8. Muscle and tendon relaxation

If calcium deficiency is severe, the abdominal wall muscles will lead to relaxation of the intestinal wall muscles, which may cause gas accumulation in the intestinal cavity and form a swollen abdomen like a frog's belly. If the tendons of the spine are loose, hunchback, pigeon chest, and sternum pain may occur.

9. Beaded rib cartilage hyperplasia

When newborns lack calcium, the cartilage of each rib proliferates and connects like beads, often compressing the lungs, making it difficult for the newborns to breathe and making them prone to bronchitis and pneumonia.

10. Poor mental state

Calcium deficiency in babies may also manifest as poor mental state, loss of appetite, lack of interest in the surrounding environment, convulsions, mental retardation, decreased immune function, etc.

If your baby shows any of the above symptoms, parents should pay attention. The most accurate method is to go to the hospital to test the calcium content. You can draw blood to test blood calcium, blood phosphorus, and bone alkaline phosphatase, and check dietary calcium, serum calcium, urine calcium, and bone mineral density.