Digestive disorders in children

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted with Doctor of Pediatrics - Neonatology - Vinmec Nha Trang International General Hospital.
Although prolonged digestive disorders do not pose a direct danger to the child's life, they can seriously affect the absorption of nutrients as well as hinder the physical and intellectual development of the baby. Not only that, digestive disorders are also the leading cause of anorexia and malnutrition in children. Therefore, overcoming digestive disorders in children is something that needs to be done early and dealt with thoroughly.

1. Function of the digestive system

The human digestive system is a long muscular tube that runs from the mouth to the anus. There are accessory organs that empty secretions into the digestive tract, namely the salivary glands, pancreas, and gallbladder. 4 main functions of the digestive system include:
Transporting and mixing food with digestive juices; Digest food into smaller parts; Absorption of digested food (mainly in the intestine); Converts absorbed food into necessary nutrients for the body (mainly in the liver). To perform these functions, the digestive system performs many activities including kneading, excreting digestive juices, absorbing and excreting food. At any stage in the cycle mentioned above, disturbances can occur, leading to digestive disorders.

2. Symptoms of digestive disorders in children

Children's digestive system is immature, so any changes from inside and outside the body can lead to digestive disorders. Symptoms of digestive disorders in children are diverse, spread along the digestive tract. Some common symptoms are:
Diarrhea: The baby has loose stools like water more than 3 times/day. When diarrhea is much or prolonged, children are easily dehydrated, lose electrolytes, if not treated promptly, it can lead to cardiovascular collapse and death; Constipation: Symptomatic child has bowel movements less than 3 times/week or has difficulty in defecation, hard, dry stools, pain during bowel movements and sometimes blood; Or vomiting: If the child normally does not have this phenomenon, but suddenly vomits a lot, accompanied by diarrhea, constipation, loss of appetite, ... it is also a manifestation of digestive disorders; Anorexia: The digestive system is inefficient, making children less able to absorb and digest, leading to loss of appetite and loss of appetite; Passing raw feces: Is a state of solid, viscous or separate stools - separate stools, in the stool with mucus or food that has not been fully digested; Abdominal bloating, indigestion: Digestive disorders in children cause flatulence, abdominal distension, indigestion, palpable abdominal distension, continuous belching, excessive farting, bad breath; Abdominal pain: Children with digestive disorders can have abdominal pain with different severity - mild; Swallowing disorders: Difficulty swallowing because food is not entering the esophagus or swallowing food into the esophagus but it is difficult to continue down, choking in a certain position. There are also cases where the child has pain when swallowing, pain in the throat or pain at the stop of food; Vomiting and Nausea: Vomiting is a condition in which the contents of the stomach are expelled through the mouth. And nausea is the feeling of wanting to vomit but not being able to vomit; Ợ: A condition in which the contents of the stomach and esophagus go back to the mouth due to dysfunction of the gastrointestinal tract. Ợ has many conditions such as burping sour water, belching, belching water, belching bitter water and even burping food; Gastrointestinal bleeding: The child vomits dark red or bright red blood, sometimes with food or has fresh blood (or black, bloody mucus like fish blood).

3. Treatment of persistent digestive disorders in children

3.1 Treatment at home When the child has symptoms of mild digestive disorders, the stool is not bloody, not fishy and does not have a fever, parents can apply some home treatment measures such as:
Feed the child a lot of food. fiber, drink enough water combined with physical activity; Divide meals for children each day to avoid the baby being too full or too hungry; Baby food should be cooked, soft, easy to digest; Prefer boiled steamed dishes. Create a comfortable psychology for children when eating, do not force them to eat too much or eat foods that they do not like; Focus on the meal, do not play with toys or watch TV, Ipad, phone while eating. Combining the regeneration of a healthy intestinal environment for children: Supplementing with good food for the digestive system, intestinal probiotics. 3.2 Hospital treatment When children have symptoms of severe digestive disorders such as bloody stools, frequent bowel movements with high fever, vomiting, etc., parents should take the child to the hospital immediately for examination. treatment. Avoid the case that children have digestive disorders for too long, causing their digestive system to be damaged, causing long-term consequences such as anorexia, growth retardation, absorption of zinc nutrients or some acute complications. other dangers. In particular, when children have digestive disorders, parents should take their children to the hospital for examination, accurate diagnosis of the cause of this symptom and effective treatment.
In addition, to prevent gastrointestinal diseases that young children often suffer, parents should pay attention to nutrition to improve children's resistance. At the same time, supplementing with supporting foods containing lysine, essential micro-minerals and vitamins such as zinc, chromium, selenium, B vitamins, ... to help support the immune system, enhance resistance so that children are less sick. and less likely to have digestive problems.
Parents can learn more:
Why do you need to supplement Lysine for your baby? The role of zinc - Guidelines for reasonable zinc supplementation Please regularly visit the website Vinmec.com and update useful information to take care of your baby and the whole family.