Symptoms in children and infants

The congenital zinc deficiency, which is based on a genetic defect, manifests itself in affected infants in the first weeks of life. The disease is known as acrodermatitis enteropathica and is characterized by chronic diarrhea in addition to wound healing disorders. Affected children also suffer from blistery skin symptoms and growth disorders.

This rare disease is treated with lifelong zinc substitution. Adolescent children and adolescents can also suffer from zinc deficiency due to malnutrition. Children and adolescents with zinc deficiency are particularly affected by infections.

Due to the hormonal change in puberty, adolescents often suffer from acne, a zinc deficiency intensifies the symptoms. In addition to the many unspecific symptoms that also occur in adults, adolescents also suffer from growth disorders, since zinc is also involved in building healthy bones. Adolescents from the age of 15 years have a daily requirement of 7 to 15 mg, which is about the same as an adult’s.

Children between the ages of 7 and 15 have a daily requirement of 5 to 10 mg. Infants between 4 and 12 months need 2 mg zinc per day. Newborns up to four months should receive 0.5 mg of zinc per day in order to develop healthily.

Treatment/Therapy

A chronic zinc deficiency and the symptoms arising from it must be treated by a sufficient supply of zinc. Recommended for healthy adults are about 10 to 15 mg zinc per day. There is a multiplicity of food, which contains naturally zinc.

A balanced diet that includes these foods is generally sufficient to prevent and treat chronic zinc deficiency. There are both zinc-containing animal foods and vegetable foods. The human organism can best utilize animal sources such as offal and sea animals.

Among the vegetable food particularly leguminous plants, peas and Sojabohnen contain much zinc, beside it a multiplicity of kinds of grain. and nourishing pyramid With the removal of the zinc deficiency also the symptoms caused thereby should disappear and the patient generally healthier, more efficient and more resistant should be. In addition to zinc-rich foods, it is also possible to take zinc preparations in the form of tablets or capsules from pharmacies or drugstores. However, these do not contain a standardized amount of the trace element, they are sometimes even too highly dosed. One should therefore try to compensate for a zinc deficiency by a balanced diet.