Folic acid is a B9 vitamin that is essential for the development and formation of the body's circulatory and immune systems. For children, it is most important when the body is actively growing during intrauterine development and early childhood.
Folic acid characteristic
Acid is an indispensable component for regulating fat and carbohydrate metabolism, as well as hematopoiesis of the body. Vitamin supports vital functions and synthesizes new cells. For children, folic acid is needed in order to avoid anemia - a deficiency of red blood cells. If there is a lack of vitamin B9 in the body, the bone marrow, which is responsible for cell division, begins to suffer.
In the first weeks of intrauterine development, with a lack of folic acid, pathological processes in the central nervous system, such as underdevelopment of the brain, cerebral hernias, can occur in the child's body. Folic acid is necessary for the development of the placenta, which provides the fetus with oxygen and nutrients. After the birth of a child, an intensive growth of the body occurs. During the first year of life, the baby gains three times more weight than at birth. All his organs and systems are growing. Such active growth requires a considerable amount of folic acid.
Folic acid supplementation
For children, folic acid intake is recommended for megaloblastic and alimentary macrocytic anemia. The drug is prescribed for the treatment of sprue syndrome, when the function of absorption of food in the intestine is impaired. An indication for taking folic acid for children is also a decrease in leukocyte counts in the blood after ionizing radiation, X-ray therapy and taking medications.
The dosage of the vitamin is determined by the attending physician, depending on the age of the child and the severity of the disease. The recommended daily dose of folic acid for babies up to 6 months is 25 mcg, from 6 months to 1 year - 35 mcg, 1 - 3 years old - 50 mcg, from 3 to 6 years old - 75 mcg, from 6 to 1 years old - 100 mcg, 10 - 14 years old - 150 mcg and from 14 years old - 200 mcg.
It should be remembered that a child's body receives some part of folic acid along with food. The vitamin is found in mother's breast milk, cereals, nuts, bananas, apricots, green vegetables, buckwheat and oatmeal, as well as meat, dairy products, salmon and tuna. Heat treatment of foods destroys folic acid.
If the child has a normal balanced diet and the intestinal microflora is in order, the body produces acid on its own and accumulates it in the liver. In other cases, it is necessary to take folic acid alone or as part of vitamin-mineral complexes.
