What to feed a baby to prevent rickets. Rickets in children: proper nutrition. Nutrition and daily routine

The health status of a small child largely depends on what the parents feed him, how long they walk him outside, and how accurately they follow the pediatrician’s recommendations. If the baby is constantly at home, does not receive mother’s milk, if complementary foods are not introduced into his diet in a timely manner, and all nutrition is limited to cow’s milk or milk formulas that are unbalanced in composition, he may develop rickets.

Rickets is a disease associated with deficiency and disorders of mineral metabolism in the body. Children of the first year of life suffer from rickets, and among those most affected are premature babies and “artificial infants” (babies fed formula milk).

Rickets does not pose a danger to the life of a child, but in the absence of adequate treatment, this disease can leave a mark for life - noticeable skeletal deformations, malocclusion, flat feet and other similar disorders.

Causes and mechanisms of development of rickets

It is known that in order to form a full-fledged bone tissue Calcium, phosphorus and vitamin D are needed to ensure the absorption of the first two substances in the intestine. All these compounds enter the child’s body through food (breast milk, yolk, vegetable oil, fish, vegetables, etc.), and vitamin D is also synthesized in the skin under the influence of sunlight.

Newborn babies are born with a supply of calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D (these substances accumulate especially actively in the fetus’s body in the last weeks of intrauterine life, but only if the mother eats properly and walks outside regularly), so up to 1-2 months, their bone tissue develops normally. Subsequently, both due to the depletion of reserves and due to active growth, the child’s body begins to need more and more “building” material. If this need is not met, calcium and phosphorus are washed out of the bones. Because of this, bone tissue becomes less dense and easily deformed. Hence all the unpleasant manifestations of rickets from the skeleton.

In addition to the effect on bone tissue, disturbances in phosphorus-calcium metabolism negatively affect the condition of muscles and nervous system child. Patients experience delayed psychomotor development, muscle hypotonia and other pathological symptoms.

Thus, the main cause of rickets is a deficiency of vitamin D; a lack of calcium and phosphorus also plays a certain role in the development of the disease. This deficiency condition occurs in the following cases:

If the child does not receive all the substances he needs from food. For example, when parents replace breast milk with unbalanced formulas or cow's milk when complementary foods are introduced late (after 6-8 months), when cereals, especially semolina, dominate in the baby’s diet.
If the child's skin is not exposed to sunlight for a long time.
If the processes of digestion of food and absorption of nutrients are disrupted in the intestines (if a child has diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, even the most nutritious diet will not reduce the risk of developing rickets).

Risk factors for rickets

In addition to the obvious reasons for rickets, a number of risk factors can be identified:

Prematurity (babies born ahead of schedule, they do not have time to make “reserves” of useful substances - this is, firstly, and secondly, they much more often have problems with the intestines and, in general, with the digestive system as a whole).
Large weight of the newborn (the larger the baby, the more nutrients and he needs vitamins).
Multiple pregnancy. Children born from such a pregnancy, as a rule, begin to feel a lack of calcium and phosphorus in utero. In addition, such babies are more often born prematurely.
Congenital disorders of the digestive system.
Dark skin color (dark-skinned children produce less vitamin D in their skin).

The first signs of rickets, which parents must pay attention to:

Increased sweating of the baby (the mother should be wary that even when it is cool, the baby sweats on his forehead and nose during feeding, that his hands and feet sweat a lot, etc.).
Poor sleep, causeless anxiety, shuddering.
Baldness of the back of the head.
Constipation (with rickets, muscle hypotension develops, including the intestinal wall, so peristalsis weakens, which leads to fecal retention).

These symptoms may appear as early as 3-4 months of a child’s life. If the disease is detected at this stage (it is called initial) and treated, no negative consequences There won’t be any left for the baby’s health. If this moment is missed, the disease will progress (it will enter the peak stage), and the child will develop more serious symptoms of the pathology:

Deformations of the skull, limbs and torso. An indicative sign is a flattened back of the head, a large forehead, an O- or X-shaped change in the legs, etc.
Severe muscle weakness, due to which another indicative symptom appears - “frog belly”.
Delay in motor development (the child does not begin to hold his head up, roll over, sit, although his peers are already doing all this, etc.).
Late teething.
Various disorders of the internal organs (primarily the gastrointestinal tract).

Gradually, the child’s condition, of course, improves (the recovery stage begins about 6-7 months after the onset of the disease), but the formed bone deformations do not disappear completely, and children remain with many of them for life. This includes a narrow pelvis, large frontal tuberosities, malocclusion, and deformed rib cage(compressed from the sides and protruded forward), and flat feet.

Diagnostics

An experienced doctor can make a diagnosis of “Rachitis,” as they say, by eye, but to confirm the diagnosis, you still need to undergo one simple test -. This is a qualitative test for calcium in urine taken from the baby before the first morning feeding. To carry out the analysis, you should prepare (purchase a urine bag to make it more convenient to collect the child’s urine, make some dietary restrictions, etc.).

In severe cases, when doctors need to find out the degree of disturbance of phosphorus-calcium metabolism and the depth of damage to bone tissue, the patient undergoes a more extensive examination, including:

Blood tests for electrolytes (calcium and phosphorus), alkaline phosphatase activity (an indicator of bone breakdown), and vitamin D metabolites.
Determination of calcium and phosphorus content in daily urine.
Ultrasound of the forearm bones.
X-ray (rarely used recently).

Treatment of rickets

It is necessary to treat children with rickets comprehensively, using specific and nonspecific methods (be sure to take into account the cause of the disease).

Non-specific methods include nutrition, the correct daily routine for the child, and various restorative procedures (massage, gymnastics, herbal, salt and pine baths, etc.). Specific methods include the administration of vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus preparations, artificial irradiation of the skin with ultraviolet light (recently used less and less and mainly in premature infants).

Nutrition and daily routine

The nutrition of children with rickets should be aimed at providing the body with all the necessary substances. For babies under one year old, the best food is breast milk. If it is not possible to breastfeed your child, you should choose adapted milk formulas; cow's and goat's milk are not suitable for this.

It is also important to introduce complementary foods in a timely manner, since the child’s needs grow every month, and the amount of nutrients in human milk, on the contrary, decreases every month. Therefore, pediatricians do not recommend exclusively breastfeeding a child after 6 months of age.

For a child with rickets, the first complementary foods can be introduced as early as 4 months, and it is better if it is vegetable puree, to which natural sources of vitamin D must be added over time - vegetable oil, egg yolk, and after 7-8 months - fish and meat. In addition, a sick baby needs fruit purees and juices, as well as cottage cheese and fermented milk products. But with porridges, especially semolina, it is better to wait.

As for the daily routine, it should be organized in such a way that the child spends at least 2 hours outside every day. Moreover, it is not necessary to place the baby under straight sunnier rays(this is even harmful), the light breaking through the greenery of the trees will be sufficient.

In addition, you should do exercises with your child, take him for a massage (or do it yourself after consultation with a specialist). Also, children with rickets are given salt, herbal, pine baths(your doctor will tell you which one to choose). After such procedures, the child will eat and sleep better.

Drug treatment of rickets

Warp this treatment- this is taking vitamin D, and what drug to use and the dose should be prescribed only by a pediatrician, since with rickets both a small dose of the drug (there will be no effect) and an overdose (there will be hypervitaminosis) is dangerous.

In addition to vitamin D, I can prescribe calcium and phosphorus supplements for the baby (it is not advisable to take them without vitamin D). Premature babies are often recommended complex medications that contain, in addition to vitamin D, other vitamins, as well as all the necessary minerals.

Rickets is a disease whose development is very easy to prevent with the help of a number of preventive measures. Such measures include:

In addition, a mother can give her child the prerequisites for a healthy future during pregnancy. To do this, a woman needs to eat a balanced diet, walk more in the air and take vitamin and mineral complexes if prescribed by a doctor.

Psychology and child education

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The automation of modern imaginative toys such as robots and interactive dolls leads to the fact that the toy becomes not a means for play, but a self-sufficient thing that arouses curiosity. But such toys quickly become boring, and the baby demands new toys. How to play with them? You just need to do what she says. And this excludes the possibility of creative play. The toy guides the child’s actions and comes down to easy to use its technical capabilities. The actual personality and psyche of the child is inhibited.

Some people think that the best toys are only wooden, environmentally friendly toys. But good toys can be plastic, paper, textile, and rubber. What also makes toys educational are the activities that can be done with them. One example of such toys for young children can be children's houses, which stimulate the development of housekeeping skills, family relations etc.

You remember that just recently your baby was lying in a helpless lump in your arms and could only express his emotions and needs by crying. But now he is already rushing around the yard, knocking down everything and everyone in his path, sandals and clothes are literally burning on the child, and very soon you will be walking him to school... Our children grow up very quickly.

When a baby begins to run confidently, he should be helped by directing his irrepressible energy specifically into the physical development of the body. Children's play complexes can be a good solution to this problem.

Children's play complexes- This is a great way to spend time for a child. Children's complexes are playgrounds that have slides, swings, ladders, and other components that are very entertaining for the child.

Let's consider what types of children's play complexes are there?? Firstly, they can be indoors, and secondly, outdoors. Outdoor children's complexes usually take up more space, but if the room is quite large, then the outdoor complex can easily become a home one.

Children's play complexes can be:

Only playgrounds (houses, swings, children's slides)

Sports (rope, rings, nets)

Mixed.

According to the type of material from which children's play complexes are made, they can be divided into wooden, plastic, metal.

Play sports complexes can be purchased for children from 1.5 to 12 years old. They allow children to develop coordination, reaction, dexterity, endurance and physical strength. Also, a children's play sports complex straightens the spine (is it worth mentioning how important it is to do pull-ups on the well-known horizontal bar), allows the child to feel more confident around other children, which has a positive effect on the child's mental health.

Rules of the game at a home sports complex

Of course, any physical activity your baby does involves a certain risk of the child getting hurt or injured. Therefore, pay attention to safety precautions. This primarily applies to children's play complexes with slides, ladders, trapezes, and ropes.

The child must be in the complex without shoes and without socks, as he may slip and fall
Monitor your child constantly; if he is tired but still wants to go down the slide, convince him to rest a little.

Street children's complexes

Children's outdoor play complexes are a complex, but especially entertaining design for a child. The outdoor complex usually includes slides, stairs, horizontal bars, carousels, sandboxes, as well as passages, castles, fortresses, houses, ships and even airplanes.

Children's complexes are now made from fairly durable materials that can even withstand an adult, and they are also very durable. Typically, the permissible load of the complexes is about 70 kg. When purchasing a complex, be sure to consider the age of the child. For kids, buy the simplest play sets, and for an older child, more complex designs are suitable. Many manufacturers of complexes produce and sell additional game elements, and a simple complex can be made more complex as your child grows older.

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” №8/2010 11.06.12

Today, rickets in infants is treated quickly and effectively. The main thing is to find an experienced doctor and immediately begin implementing his recommendations.

Signs of rickets in children

The mother can notice the characteristic signs of rickets in a child herself. These are worn out hairs on the back of the head, poor appetite, regurgitation, intestinal spasms, shuddering during sleep, increased sweating (with a sour smell), decreased muscle tone. All these signs indicate that the child has rickets and needs qualified medical care.

Vitamin D supplementation for infants

Depending on the severity of the disease and the age of the child, the doctor prescribes vitamin D for 30-40 days. First - a loading dose, then it is reduced to a prophylactic dose. However, in the summer months, when the sun helps produce an important vitamin, the dose of the medicine is significantly reduced or discontinued. But everything is strictly individual! As in choosing a drug. The doctor decides whether the baby needs an oil, alcohol or water solution of vitamin D.

Vitamin D in foods. Nutrition for rickets in children

It's great if you're breastfeeding! But are you eating well yourself? Are you on a strict diet for fear of causing an allergic reaction in your baby? In vain! A nursing mother needs to consume foods that contain vitamin D. Expand your diet only gradually and in small portions. Introduce calcium-rich dairy products into the menu - cottage cheese, milk, fermented baked milk, kefir. Products rich in vitamin D and phosphorus, and useful for a nursing mother: fatty fish, egg yolk, hard cheeses, butter, oatmeal, buckwheat, meat.

It so happens that your child is artificially born and has signs of rickets? He can be helped. The pediatrician will select the right milk formula for children suffering from rickets and who are bottle-fed.

Prevention of rickets in children

If you engage in physical education with your child from birth, his immunity will become stronger, and he will be able to overcome any ailment, including rickets.

Choose what suits you best. Do baby yoga, dynamic gymnastics, visit a sauna, a swimming pool (with ionized water). Give a massage - knead, stroke the baby's back, feet, arms. Exercise with him on a fitball, toughen up...

And the most important thing for rickets in children is to walk in the fresh air as much as possible. After all, the sun is an excellent supplier of vitamin D!

What baths are useful for rickets in children?

Since rickets in a child affects both the baby’s muscular and nervous systems, the doctor will prescribe water treatments for him (after 6 months). They perfectly relax, stimulate, and improve blood circulation. You may have to go to the clinic for water procedures for some time, but knowing all the secrets, you will be able to carry them out at home.

Sea bath for rickets in children

It is prescribed to children who are lethargic, sedentary, and apathetic.

In 10 liters of water heated to 36 °C, dissolve 2 tbsp. spoons of sea salt.
Check carefully to see if there are any undissolved crystals left at the bottom of the bath - they can injure the little one.
The first time bathing should last no more than 3-4 minutes. Then - 5-6 minutes.
After the procedure, rinse your baby with fresh water.
Please note that salt baths are not carried out daily, but every other day. One course consists of 8-10 procedures.

Pine bath for a newborn

This bath helps easily excitable children.

Clean the baby's bathtub. Take 10 liters of water (36.5 °C). Add 1/2 teaspoon of natural liquid pine extract, which is sold at the pharmacy.
Mix the water thoroughly.
The first procedure should last no more than 7 minutes. Gradually the time is increased.
For a good effect, 12-15 baths are usually prescribed over two weeks (of course, they should be done in the evening).

Herbal bath for rickets in children

Decoction baths medicinal herbs indicated for children with increased sweating.

Take chamomile, oak bark, string, plantain leaves.
Mix in equal quantities and brew at the rate of 1 tbsp. spoon of mixture per liter of water.
10 such procedures (the first one takes no more than 10 minutes) give excellent results!

Causes of rickets in children

Our expert, pediatrician Valentina Romanova:

The main cause of rickets in infants is considered to be an insufficient amount of vitamin D in the body, without which phosphorus-calcium metabolism is disrupted. This vitamin comes from food and is also formed in the skin under the influence of ultraviolet rays.

However, other factors that may influence the appearance of rickets in a child should be taken into account. For example, difficult childbirth, toxicosis or gestosis in the mother during pregnancy, tight swaddling of the newborn when the general immune system is weakened - all this negatively affects both the metabolism and the musculoskeletal system of the child.

Usually, with rickets, the pediatrician prescribes calcium and medications for children to normalize growth. Of course, you can’t do without vitamin D; it helps the absorption of calcium and phosphorus in the body. But do not think that any mother can do without doctor’s prescriptions and independently purchase at the pharmacy what her baby needs to treat rickets. After all, vitamins have many forms and types. Parents cannot determine what exactly is suitable for their child in composition and what dose of the drug he needs. In addition, in no case should we forget that vitamin D is a toxic substance and its excessive amount causes poisoning of the body.

Rickets is one of the most terrible childhood diseases. The name of the disease comes from the Greek word “rickets” - spine. It is this part of the skeleton that the disease strikes first. Rickets affects the skeletal system of infants and early post-infants. In severe forms, damage to the child’s internal organs is also possible. The main danger of rickets is that it has a detrimental effect on the formation and development of the skeletal system. The consequences of severe rickets suffered in childhood haunt a person throughout his life and are practically incurable.

Read also our special articles nutrition for bones, food for the spine and foods rich in vitamin D

The first mentions of the symptoms of rickets are found in the works of ancient healers of the second century AD. IN new history Rickets was first described by the English scientist Whistler in 1645. Another Englishman, orthopedist F. Gleason, deeply studied the symptoms and course of rickets. He gave the disease its name.

Causes of rickets

Rickets occurs due to a lack of important vitamins, minerals and microelements, mainly vitamin D, in a growing child’s body. The following causes of the disease are distinguished:

insufficient exposure of the child to the fresh air, lack of natural sunlight;
Not proper nutrition, early weaning of the child from the breast, use of foods poor in vitamins and microelements to feed the child;
metabolic system disorders, especially in premature infants;
violation of the mother's diet during pregnancy;
genetic predisposition.

Symptoms of rickets

It is extremely important to identify the development of rickets in a child as early as possible. The first signs of the disease:

the mother will probably notice changes in the behavior of the child, who becomes lethargic and capricious
during feeding, you need to pay attention to beads of sweat on the baby’s face; a damp pillow after sleep should also cause alertness: excessive sweating is one of the signs of rickets
It is necessary to regularly examine the child’s head: developing rickets causes severe itching, the child constantly itches, causing characteristic bald patches to appear on the head.

A child with the disease in the middle stage is distinguished by a violation of the shape of the skull (excessively convex or, on the contrary, flattened forehead and parietal part), a fontanel that does not close for a long time, a curved spine, and a sunken, as if depressed, chest. When a child begins to walk, the abnormal o- or x-shape of the legs catches the eye.

A child with a severe form of rickets has noticeable significant retardation in physical and mental development as a result of damage to bones, internal organs and the nervous system.

Useful foods for rickets

Rickets is a serious and dangerous disease, which makes its timely prevention all the more important. Perhaps the most important place among such means is proper nutrition.

It is important to start preventing rickets even before the birth of the child; proper nutrition of the mother significantly reduces the likelihood of this disease occurring. It is necessary to fill the expectant mother's diet with foods rich in vitamin D, such as:

fish, especially sea fish - salmon, trout, herring, mackerel, sardine;
liver - chicken, beef or fish (for example cod liver);
eggs - chicken and quail;
greens – cilantro, parsley; you can try nettle borscht;
vegetables - pumpkin, zucchini, squash;
mushrooms, preferably not store-bought champignons and oyster mushrooms, but forest mushrooms - boletus, honey mushrooms, boletus, russula;
caviar.

Ideal food product infant- breast milk. If breastfeeding is not possible for one reason or another, it must be replaced with formula. When choosing a mixture, it is important to pay attention to the content of vitamin D in its composition, as well as microelements such as phosphorus and magnesium.

Your baby's complementary foods should include vegetable purees with the addition of cabbage, pumpkin and zucchini. From five months you can give ground chicken liver. From seven months onwards, it will be useful to diversify the baby’s diet with boiled leucorrhoea and poultry. From about six months, the child should be given calcined curd, which can be purchased at a children's dairy kitchen, or you can prepare it yourself. To do this, you should boil the milk with a calcium gluconate tablet (one tablet per 300-400 ml), and then ferment it in gauze, as when preparing regular cottage cheese.

If a child shows signs of developing rickets, then complementary feeding should be started as early as possible, adding fruit and vegetable juices to the milk.

The most important means of preventing rickets are walking and sunbathing. It is necessary for the child to spend daily time in the fresh air and sunlight at least 1-1.5 hours a day.

In modern medicine, rickets is called a childhood social disease. This term arose due to the close relationship between the causes of the disease and the child’s living conditions. Most often, this disease is diagnosed in children from disadvantaged families or living in countries with underdeveloped economies and infrastructure.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), rickets is a pathology of infants and children under three years of age, characterized by disruptions in phosphorus-calcium metabolism. According to statistics, every tenth baby in our country shows signs of such negative changes in the body.

Causes and symptoms of the disease

There are not many sources of rickets. The main cause of the pathology is the body’s lack of vitamin D during the period of active bone growth. What could cause this to happen?

Improper gestation and other pregnancy factors. Based on the results of statistical studies, it becomes clear that the risk of rickets is much higher when a baby is born before the due date. The maximum saturation of the child’s body with phosphorus and calcium occurs precisely in recent months pregnancy.

Acute ultraviolet deficiency. Get required quantity You can get vitamin D by being outside for 1-2 hours a day. Unfortunately, many parents, trying to protect their child from various external factors(seasonal epidemics, allergies), they prefer to stay at home more. In this case, a lack of necessary elements provokes disease.

Baby food. It has been proven that the risk of developing rickets is much higher in bottle-fed infants. Breastfeeding and proper introduction of complementary foods are a guarantee of normal development of the skeletal system.

It is quite difficult to detect the onset of the disease in a timely manner. At the first stages, no obvious visual changes are observed. The most understandable symptoms include unmotivated fearfulness of the baby, frequent crying, irritability, sweating and bald patches in the back of the head. At further development The disease manifests bone pathologies (softening of tissues, deformation of the skull, x-shaped legs, concave or convex chest).

Rickets - therapeutic nutrition according to WHO rating

It is very important to start treatment on time. Therefore, if any negative signs of the disease are detected, it is necessary to urgently seek help from specialized specialists at a medical institution. After the examination, the pediatrician prescribes therapeutic actions, in most cases, consisting of changing the diet and saturating the baby’s body with the missing elements.

maximum period of breastfeeding (one liter of human milk contains more than 50 IU of vitamin D);
balanced supplements and proper complementary foods (vegetable, fruit juices, decoctions, purees, chicken yolks);
strict control of the amount of cereals in the child’s diet (a large number of cereals slows down the absorption of essential vitamins by the baby’s body).

Separately, it is necessary to mention the peculiarities of feeding an artificial baby. If for some reason the mother had to wean the baby from the breast early, then only the correct adapted formulas must be used for feeding. Powders such as “Malyutka”, “Bifilakt” and “Detolakt” are very close in composition to milk, but require strict control of the development of the skeletal system.

If the disease is diagnosed on late stages, then therapeutic nutrition for rickets must necessarily include a complex of vitamins and minerals. Drugs are prescribed with a daily dosage of the missing element of group D in 2000 - 5000 IU. In this case, the concentration of these substances in the blood is frequently measured, and after determining the beginning of normalization, the amount is reduced to the recommended values.

Traditional recipes for rickets

Except drug treatment and normalization of the diet, you can use proven alternative medicine. Of course, the introduction of new products and herbal ingredients to the baby’s menu must be discussed with the pediatrician in advance. This will help avoid allergic reactions and subsequent intolerance.

Vegetable broth (cabbage, beets, potatoes, carrots) is very useful;
mint tea (the leaves of this plant are infused for 20-30 minutes under the lid);
drink from walnut(the leaves of this tree are poured with boiling water and left in a dark room for 1-1.5 hours).

A very popular supplement is fish oil. This element is really rich in vitamin D and helps the growing body to properly build bone tissue.