Fruits and vegetables children should limit to avoid the risk of constipation

Signs that a child is constipated

Constipation is a common digestive disorder in children. Causes of constipation are diverse, but mainly functional causes account for 90-95%. Functional constipation is a state of constipation when the physical causes of anatomy and biochemistry have been excluded, leaving only the gastrointestinal tract function incomplete.

According to the ROME III criteria, functional constipation is defined as having at least 2 of the following 6 criteria:

- Going outside ≤ 2 times / week.

- Fecal incontinence at least 1 time / week after knowing how to go to the toilet.

- History of involuntary defecation or excessive fecal retention.

History of hard or painful stools.

- There is a large stool in the rectum.

- History of large-sized mold segmentation.

In children younger than 4 years, these symptoms usually last for at least a month. For children older than 4 years, symptoms persist for at least 2 months and do not meet the diagnostic criteria for irritable bowel syndrome.

Causes of Constipation

- Causes and risk factors for functional constipation: Children have not yet perfected the mechanism of excreting stools.

- Due to diet: lack of fiber, eating too much protein, allergic to milk, drinking less water.

- Due to psychological - educational factors: psychological stress, living conditions - hygiene.

- Due to rickets, due to the use of drugs such as antibiotics .

- At the beginning of school age, children use the toilet by themselves, afraid of going outside, afraid of not asking permission from the teacher, leading to abstaining from going out.

Symptoms of Constipation

- Reduce the number of bowel movements and the difficulty of defecation.

- Fecal incontinence, large stool size, pain when passing stools.

- Straining during bowel movements, abdominal pain, loss of appetite, vomiting and rectal bleeding.

Prolonged constipation can affect children's psychological, physical development and quality of life

Nutritional care for children with constipation like?

Nutrition plays an important role in recovery and helps children prevent prolonged constipation. Diet for children with constipation is as follows:

- Ensure adequate nutritional needs according to age.

- Pay attention to enough fiber from green vegetables and fiber-rich fruits, foods with laxative properties such as jute vegetables, spinach, amaranth, sweet potato, sweet potato, papaya, bar long, banana, orange, grapefruit, tangerine . Eat just enough meat. Limit eating carrots, guava, sapodilla.

In fact, carrots are a type of vegetable when cooking for sweetness, so they are often used by mothers when cooking porridge. However, carrots are rich in fiber but mostly insoluble fiber, so eating a lot can cause constipation.

As for guava and sapodilla, or sweet persimmons are rich in tannins, so when eaten soft and sweet, but eating a lot can cause constipation.

- Pay attention to the child to drink enough water when the child is constipated. Amount of water children need in 1 day:

Children from 1kg to 10kg, the need for water is 100ml/kg.

Children from 11kg to 20kg, the water requirement is 1000ml/day and add 50ml/kg for every 10kg of growth in children.

Children from 21kg or more, the way to calculate water needs is 1500ml/day and add 20ml/kg for every 20kg of the child's growth weight.

Role of probiotics in the treatment of constipation

Probiotics are used in the treatment of constipation based on research demonstrating differences in the gut microbiota between healthy and chronically constipated individuals. In patients with chronic constipation, the intestinal microbial balance is disrupted with an increase in Clostridium and Enterobacteria and a decrease in the number of beneficial bacteria such as Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Bifidobacterium reduces transmission. complex electromyography and accelerate the transit time in the small intestine.

Probiotics lower the pH of the intestinal tract by producing lactic acid, acetic acid, and other acids. Low pH increases intestinal motility and reduces colonic transit time. Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) are major metabolic products derived from the fermentative activities of the gut microbiota. These short-chain fatty acids have a direct effect on intestinal motility and increase intestinal motility.

Studies have proven that supplementing with Protexin, including probiotics: L.acidophilus, L.casei, L.rhamnosus, B.infantis, L.bulgaricus) increases the number of bowel movements per week, reduces fecal incontinence and pain. belly . The number of bowel movements was significantly improved in children receiving L. rhamnosus.

Fermented foods are a good source of probiotics in a child's diet. It is a product rich in beneficial bacteria from milk such as yogurt, cheese, and other fermented foods such as kefir, fermented soybeans (Miso, tempeh). There are also additional products that are probiotics, which should be used under the guidance of medical staff.

Functional constipation, if not properly monitored and treated, can persist for a long time and seriously affect children's psychological, physical development and quality of life. Therefore, parents need to pay attention to monitor the digestive status of their children to help them have a healthy digestive system, absorb nutrients well for the body to develop.

Isabella Humphrey

Update 15 November 2021