Symptoms of vitamin C deficiency in children that parents should pay attention to

The timely and adequate nutritional supplement for the development of children is the top concern of parents when raising their children. If children have a lack of vitamin C in the body, it will make their resistance decline, being attacked by harmful viruses. Signs of vitamin C deficiency are easy to recognize such as bleeding, soft bones, … parents need to quickly recognize to promptly supplement vitamin C for children with foods and drugs containing vitamin C. Find out more in this article of Solife!

1. Why should vitamin C supplements for children?

Vitamin C has another name, ascorbic acid, and is an extremely necessary substance for the formation of blood vessels, and neurotransmitters, …. This vitamin is available in foods from nature. Or in the form of functional foods with diverse shapes and uses on the market. Vitamin C has been researched and evaluated by scientists as bringing many important benefits such as:

• The ability to synthesize and form new collagen, cartilage, and muscle: this helps maintain the activity of muscle tissues in the body, helping children’s wounds heal quickly.
• Daily vitamin C supplementation helps reduce rickets that occurs in young children because it prevents other viruses from breaking down body tissue.
• Vitamin C aids children in absorbing nutrients more efficiently.
• Participating in the synthesis of a substance called carnitine – supporting the transport and breakdown of fatty acids to create energy for the body.
• Besides, vitamin C is also an effective antioxidant, thereby creating a strong shield against bad influences from the outside to improve the child’s resistance. Not only that, but it also helps children avoid diseases such as bleeding gums, anemia, and serious infections rather than causing cardiovascular diseases.

Read more: Guidelines for effective vitamin C supplementation for children

2. Symptoms of Vitamin C deficiency in children

Children with vitamin C deficiency always have very easy symptoms to see. Let’s take a look at the common symptoms of vitamin C deficiency in children below:

2.1 Frequent nosebleeds

Nosebleeds are a very common phenomenon in children with vitamin C deficiency.. At this time, blood vessels are weakened and capillaries appear dilated leading to nosebleeds in the nose. It is necessary to supplement with the necessary amount of vitamin C as recommended by doctors and use foods such as strawberries and passion fruit for easy absorption by children.

2.2 Swelling and bleeding in the gums

Vitamin C is a foundational ingredient for the health of teeth and gums. Children with vitamin C deficiency are very likely to have problems with red, swollen, and bleeding gums even though their teeth and gums are still taken care of daily. Scientists study that it should be provided from vitamin C in the amount of 15-25 mg/day.

2.3 Tired body

Despite getting enough sleep and eating well, children are always in a state of lethargy and sleepiness during the day, which is a typical sign of vitamin C deficiency . Parents should have a method to adjust daily intake, add foods such as oranges and tangerines to children to maintain alertness, and quickly adjust the biological clock to suit the future.

2.4 Dry and dull skin

Children always have soft and smooth skin that many people desire. In the case of children with dry skin, more severe than dull skin, it is most likely due to a lack of a large amount of vitamin C necessary for maintaining soft, smooth, and flawless skin. Supplementing a sufficient dose of vitamin C every day in a scientific way will help children keep their skin rosy and soft.

Read more: Common Signs Of Vitamin C Deficiency That You Should Know

2.5 Wounds take a long time to heal

Normally, in children, the ability to regenerate and restore wounds is extremely fast. If a child accidentally stumbles, but bruises remain on the body for a long time or open wounds take a long time to heal, this is a sign that the child is deficient in vitamin C.. Therefore, in addition to taking care of the wound to To heal quickly, parents also choose for themselves suitable methods to add vitamin C-rich foods to their children’s daily meals.

2.6 Getting sick often

The fact that children often get sick while environmental conditions are normal proves that their bodies are damaged, and their immunity is reduced due to vitamin C deficiency. Poor immunity makes children very susceptible to minor illnesses and diseases. gastrointestinal tract or worse, infection.

Parents should quickly supplement vitamin C so that the immune system can quickly be re-formed. From there, the child’s body will be stimulated to produce a large number of white blood cells to help fight infectious diseases, invading bacteria from the outside environment.

2.7 Often suffer from joint pain

Symptoms of joint pain caused by vitamin C deficiency are a signal of the body’s lack of synthetic collagen. Regular addition of the general pattern will create a shield to protect the body from the penetration of “youkai” in the environment. Avoid vigorous exercise in children when their bodies are not supplied with vitamin C regularly.

2.8 Suddenly gaining weight

Even if children eat normal portions or even eat very little, their weight still increases uncontrollably, which is a sign of vitamin C deficiency. Giving children vitamin C in appropriate doses helps to burn fat in the body effectively. At the same time, enhancing health, and provides energy for children’s long-day activiti.

2.9 Hair breakage, loss

The case of hair breakage and loss, especially appearing with great frequency in girls, is a warning that the child’s nutritional diet is not being supplemented with vitamin C. In a research report released by nutrition experts Vitamin C plays an important role in the production of natural collagen to help fight hair loss effectively, and stimulate hair to grow thicker. Therefore, parents need to pay attention to supplement vitamin C for children through green vegetables, kiwi, …

3. What should parents do when detecting vitamin C deficiency in children?

Long-term vitamin C deficiency can have unpredictable consequences. When detecting signs of vitamin C deficiency in children, parents need to develop an appropriate nutrition regimen as prescribed by expert doctors.

For infants, mothers should exclusively breastfeed for the first 6 months because breast milk is full of nutrients for the baby’s development. Children should not use vitamin C at this time because children are very susceptible to poisoning because the body’s functions have not yet been promoted to their full use. Mothers should also prioritize vitamin C supplements in daily foods so that breast milk has the best quality when breastfeeding.

Supplementing with foods rich in vitamin C is an effective and easy method to prevent this micronutrient deficiency in the child’s body. Vitamin C appears in many vegetables: bell peppers, cabbage, … and fruits such as papaya, lemon, grapefruit, guava, … are suitable choices for this problem. Parents should prioritize choosing clean foods to process into porridge or food with rice every day for children.

Vitamin C is quite sensitive to temperature, if stored and processed incorrectly, it is easy to cause this micronutrient to be lost in processed foods. Please avoid the following processing methods so that natural vitamin C is not lost

• Boiling vegetables at high temperatures destroys 26-70% of vitamin C in vegetables.
• Vegetables that are chopped and soaked for too long will cause a large loss of vitamin C.
• Food after buying should not be left for too long in the refrigerator, not only losing vitamin C but also making the food not as fresh as the first, easy to be invaded by bacteria.

Depending on the condition and age, parents should also supplement the necessary amount of vitamin C for the child’s body in a day:

• Children 0-6 months: 40mg/day
• Children 7-12 months: 50mg/day
• Children 1-3 years old: 15mg/day
• Children 4-8 years old: 25mg/day
• Children 9-13 years old: 45mg/day
• Children 14-18 years old: 65-75mg/day.

Vitamin C is essential for the healthy development of children. Because the body is not able to regenerate this vitamin in the body, parents need to build a reasonable diet for their children to avoid vitamin C deficiency. children have a lack of vitamin C. Hopefully, the above sharing of Solife will help parents. Parents have more knowledge about vitamin C!

Trần Hoàng Uyên

Trần Hoàng Uyên (Senior Manager Pharmaceutical company) là chuyên gia cấp cao với nhiều năm kinh nghiệm trong lĩnh vực dược phẩm. Tốt nghiệp cử nhân chuyên ngành Quản lý dược I tại Trường Đại học Y dược TP. Hồ Chí Minh và hiện đang công tác tại công ty dược phẩm. Với hơn 10 năm kinh nghiệm làm việc trong ngành dược, chị Hoàng Uyên là chuyên gia cộng tác tham vấn y khoa cho danh mục blog cũng như các nội dung liên quan trên Solife. (Tran Hoang Uyen (Senior Manager Pharmaceutical company) is a senior specialist with many years of experience in the Pharmaceutical field. She graduated Bachelor of Pharmacy Management I at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy at Ho Chi Minh City and is currently working for a pharmaceutical company. With more than 10 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical industry, Ms. Hoang Uyen is a medical consultant collaborator for content on Solife's website.)