Kevin comes into your clinic for his 9-month check-up. Kevin’s mother stopped br
ID: 162461 • Letter: K
Question
Kevin comes into your clinic for his 9-month check-up. Kevin’s mother stopped breastfeeding when he was 2 months old. He was constipated after he started infant formula so his mother switched to a low-iron formula. When Kevin reached 6 months of age, his grandmother insisted that he was old enough to start drinking cow’s milk instead of infant formula. Kevin’s parents decided to feed him 2% fat milk because his father has high cholesterol and they are worried Kevin will also develop high cholesterol if he eats high-fat foods. His hemoglobin is 9.0 g/dL. At 9 months he is drinking milk and apple juice, but does not have much appetite for his baby food.
What does Kevin’s hemoglobin value (normal range is 11- 13 g/dL) tell you about his nutritional status? Why might this be the case?
Explanation / Answer
kevin's lower hemoglobin value indicates he is anemic or have a lower red blood cell count.The nutritional status is already mentioned in the question itself. lower hemoglobin value can be caused due to several reasons, of which nutritional deficiency such as iron, vitamin B12 and folate is a major cause. since kevin's mother switched to low-iron formula, this might have resulted in lower hemoglobin value.
several research studies have confirmed that cholesterol is bound to hemoglobin in normal RBCs. therefore, there is also a direct link between cholesterol and hemoglobin too.
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