Your child has a poor appetite, is losing weight, or says that he or she has a stomachache from time to time. After going to the hospital for various tests, the cause cannot be found, so it is time to consider whether it is functional dyspepsia. Functional dyspepsia is closely related to the child’s psychological condition. In clinical practice, doctors have found that when parents have high expectations of their children, excessive academic pressure, and poor family relations, functional dyspepsia may be triggered or aggravated. School-age children are the most vulnerable: Functional dyspepsia is very common in school-age children (6-13 years old), and there are no standardized statistics on the incidence of functional dyspepsia among pediatric patients in China, but it has become a common cause of visits to pediatric gastroenterology clinics. It is characterized by long-term or repeated loss of appetite, heartburn, vomiting, upper abdominal fullness, pain, belching, eating less, early satiety, etc. Over time, people become yellow and thin, anemic, weak, and the body’s resistance decreases, making them prone to illness. Although functional dyspepsia is relatively common, but the diagnosis must be made very carefully, must first from the perspective of evidence-based medicine, to determine the presence of organic lesions of the gastrointestinal tract, can be done by barium meal, fiber gastroscopy, abdominal liver ultrasound, blood biochemical examination, except gastritis, ulcer disease, polyps and organic diseases such as hepatobiliary and pancreatic, in order to confirm functional dyspepsia. The digestive tract is the “second brain” prone to emotions: what causes functional dyspepsia? Shen Zhenyu, deputy chief physician, said that current research suggests that functional dyspepsia is related to prolonged gastric emptying time, gastrointestinal motility disorders, as well as visceral hypersensitivity, increased acid secretion caused by stimulation, . H. pylori (HP) infection, and even psychological factors. Of these, psychological factors are the most overlooked but are a common cause of the disease. Some readers will have difficulty understanding: what psychological problems do children have? How can psychological problems affect gastrointestinal function? Shen Zhenyu explained that children and adults alike can be plagued by psychological problems, unpleasant group life, inexplicably boring homework and imposed special learning, as well as poor family relations may cause tension, anxiety and depression in children. These psychological problems and the function of the gastrointestinal tract can influence each other, which is called the “brain-gut axis” in medical science, which shows the close relationship between the two. The gastrointestinal tract can be called the “second brain”, whether it is nervousness, anxiety, depression or overexcitement, the gastrointestinal tract will be sensitive to these emotional signals, and therefore affected. Don’t ignore the psychological debugging: When children are diagnosed with functional dyspepsia, parents’ first reaction is “what medicine is good to eat”. Shen Zhenyu, deputy chief physician, said that clinically there are indeed some drugs to help improve the discomfort, for example, gastrointestinal motility drugs, can promote gastrointestinal peristalsis, restore gastric motility; digestive enzymes are relatively insufficient, resulting in indigestion, easy to fill up, can be given digestive enzyme therapy; repeated diarrhea, the existence of intestinal microecological imbalance, the use of probiotics can help restore the normal state and so on. But what is more important is the intervention of dietary habits and psychological debugging. Dietary attention should be given to the child to eat less cold drinks and cold food, and to eat non-irritating food to reduce the load on the gastrointestinal tract. Psychologically, we can communicate with the child to find the reasons that bring them psychological distress, and if necessary, we can seek help from a psychologist. Clinically, even some children do not need to resort to drugs, as their “knot” or “heart disease” is removed, the symptoms of indigestion will disappear. Parents should spend more time with their children and not use their busy schedule as an excuse. From clinical observation, children brought up by their parents are healthier in body and mind than those brought up by their grandparents. Protect your child’s gastrointestinal tract, these details do not ignore! 1, avoid staying up late, no matter when doing homework or watching TV, the Internet are not too late. Excessive fatigue will affect the normal digestion and absorption of the gastrointestinal tract. 2, reduce dining out, do not eat leftovers that have not been heated through, will greatly increase the chances of gastrointestinal tract infection. 3, do not drink a lot of water and drinks before meals will dilute the stomach acid, so that the gastrointestinal tract sterilization and digestive capacity is weakened. 4, do not crave cold drinks, cold food, will further affect the gastrointestinal function and reduce resistance. 5, if the family has a history of gastritis, gastric ulcer, it is best not to share tableware, cups, towels, etc. with children to avoid H. pylori infection.