A condition in which there are either too few red blood cells, too little hemoglobin in each red blood cell, or both. Your child will seem quite well if he is only mildly anemic. If the anemia develops slowly, the body adapts to the smaller amount of hemoglobin. This means that even severe anemia – if it is of gradual onset may cause no symptoms. What you’ll probably notice first is that the child is abnormally tired. He may be pale- the color of his lips, fingertips and insides of the eyelids are a better guide than the cheeks. He may also have a poor appetite or be irritable.
The anemia is caused by a sudden loss of blood, as in an accident or in certain blood disorders, then there may be some breathlessness, a fast pulse and even heart failure if treatment isn’t begun.
The many possible causes fall into three main groups. Lowered red blood cells count in the body; excessive breakdown of red blood cells by the body; and blood loss.
Iron deficiency anemia is the commonest blood disorder in children. Because breast milk usually contains plenty of easily-absorbed iron, young breast-fed babies don’t often suffer from it. Some premature babies are born with low body stores of iron and so have blood tests to check for anemia from time to time. The young child who doesn’t eat a varied diet containing iron-rich foods may become anemic. The main sources of iron in our diet are meat, bread (especially wholemeal), flour, cereals, potatoes and vegetables.
About one child in three with iron deficiency anemia has slight, continual bleeding from the gut after drinking cow’s milk. This can be prevented by heating cow’s milk before it is drunk or by reducing the amount of cow’s milk drunk by the child. Large amounts of cow’s milk may also reduce the amount of iron absorbed by the body and reduce the child’s appetite for other foods.
anemia can be caused by blood loss (a severe nose bleed, an accident or an operation) certain drugs which damage bone marrow or red blood cells: abnormalities in the red cells themselves or by leukemia. Rhesus babies usually suffer from anemia due to red cell abnormalities.
The vast majority of children whose cheeks look pale aren’t anemic at all. In those that are, iron deficiency anemia is the commonest condition by far.
