In general, children start with a loss of appetite, or in severe cases, anorexia, which slowly leads to wasting, or even growth retardation and dwarfism. Therefore, let’s analyze the causes of anorexia first and then talk about what to do.
Common causes of pediatric anorexia.
1, systemic acute and chronic infectious diseases
Pediatric anorexia first needs to exclude disease factors, especially chronic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, parasitic infections, Helicobacter pylori infectious gastritis, etc.. Infectious diseases directly affect the pediatric digestive system, making the child’s gastrointestinal smooth muscle tone is low, digestive juice secretion is reduced, enzyme activity is reduced, and affects the central nervous system regulation of digestive function, causing anorexia. Suffering from chronic infectious diseases, children in addition to eating less, the body consumption increases, therefore, often have wasting.
2.Climate influence
Hot weather, temperature difference will affect the gastrointestinal nerve regulation function, reduce digestive juice secretion, reduce digestive enzyme activity, causing anorexia.
3, improper feeding
Lack of scientific feeding knowledge, indiscriminate snacking, indiscriminate nutritional supplements can also cause appetite loss. Some parents fear that the child’s nutrition is not enough, 3 meals plus 2 snacks in the afternoon, during the period also give fruit from time to time; resulting in the body blood glucose levels continue to be high, into the meal when the child’s appetite, 1 meal chase feeding, 1 hour feeding is not finished; the child raised fine thin. Some girls do not like to eat, but obsessed with 50 cents a pack of snacks, these cheap snacks have a lot of additives, not only no nutrition, and poor hygiene, will lead to H. pylori infection, stomach pain, anorexia.
4, xenophagia
Some children do not like to eat, but like to bite nails, eat dirt, lime, paper. Studies have found that most children with heterophagia have zinc deficiency, and some have psychological problems.
5.Family and school factors
Children are strongly frightened, do not adapt to the new environment, poor relationship between classmates, or family misfortune, parental divorce resulting in depression, so that appetite decreases, vomiting after meals; or parents demand too much of their children, too much restriction or excessive attention to pediatric feeding, forced eating causes revulsion, resulting in anorexia.
What should we do if a child has anorexia nervosa?
First, remove the cause of the disease
1, organic (somatic) diseases to treat the disease.
2, to supplement zinc preparations for children with zinc deficiency and anorexia nervosa
3. seek the help of psychologists or mental health doctors for those with emotional and psychological problems
4.Supplementation of probiotics, such as Yijunkang and Pefikang, etc., to induce the gastrointestinal tract to produce a variety of organic acids and digestive enzymes to help the intestines absorb food and increase the child’s appetite.
5, the appropriate application of traditional Chinese medicine conditioning, such as pediatric elimination of food granules.
Second, do not eat snacks
Children before each meal is best to keep an empty stomach, so that it produces “hunger” to stimulate the appetite center of the brain to produce appetite, so that children “hunger to choose food”, which can prevent the occurrence of partiality, but also make children feel physically and emotionally satisfied after eating, this This satisfaction can also promote the further development and perfection of the appetite function.
Third, control sugar consumption
Especially in the 1-2 hours before the meal, it is best not to eat food containing sugar, so that children’s low blood sugar directly stimulate the nerve center to produce appetite.
Fourth, happy eating
Never reprimand the child during meals, because strong external stimulation will make the child nervous, resulting in reduced secretion of digestive juices and loss of appetite.
Fifth, prevent rebellion
Forced children to eat a certain food, children will have a rebellious mentality, more impact on appetite, the more young children, the more serious this situation, “you let me eat, I do not eat”, or cope with a little. Commonly, some parents say: “you give me to eat this bit of food”, the child is “I give you to eat it”, originally appetite is a basic human desire, but by the child as a task to complete, then lost the “eat “This has a negative impact on the normal development of children’s appetite.
In short, the development of appetite in children is not forced by scolding, reprimanding and other means, nor is it cultivated by pampering, spoiling, but by scientific feeding, patient guidance to stimulate, to perfect.