My baby has little hair, is it due to a lack of calcium?
Transcript
My baby has little hair, is it due to a lack of calcium?
The amount of hair that a child has varies among different children. Some parents may wrongly believe that the amount of the baby's hair is related to the nutritional status of the mother during pregnancy or that scanty hair means a lack of calcium.
When a child has scanty hair, it does not mean that he is lack of calcium or other nutrients. Actually, hairs grow from the hair follicles and the longest growth phase can be up to 2 to 3 years. Moreover, children usually have thinner, shorter and lighter-colored hair. Therefore, some children may still have scanty hair up to 1 year old. They will usually have thicker and more hair at around 2 to 3 years old.
Is that alright even my child has little hair?
If a child does not have enough iron, has metabolic disease or some other syndromal diseases, he may have scanty hair. However, usually there will also be other signs, such as problems in the teeth, nails, skin and growth parameters (such as body weight and height). You can continue to observe if your child has only scanty hair but no other signs and growing well. If you have concern on your child's nutritional status, you can discuss this with a doctor or dietitian.
If your child has the following conditions, you should bring him to visit a doctor:
- Obvious patchy hair loss except in the occiput
- Excessive dandruff or hair loss
- Positive family history of congenital problem in hair growth and sweating