In the usual family and friends to meet, often hear them complain: my baby always do not want to eat, or even see food or milk powder will shake their heads and pout, refusing to eat, if force-feeding will cry, noise and nausea, and in serious cases will vomit. Whenever mealtime arrives, the whole family comes together, and coaxing and feeding, busy! But the baby still does not appreciate it. What can we do?
This is also the most common condition in our clinic – pediatric anorexia nervosa. The specific manifestations are: in infancy (<1 week old), small babies do not crave milk, the amount of milk sucking decreases day by day, or resist drinking milk; in early childhood (1-3 weeks old), they only like to drink milk powder, and refuse to eat rice and noodles, mashed vegetables, fish and other complementary foods; in preschool (3-6 years old), some children only like to drink various drinks, fruit juices, snacks and candies, and refuse to eat normal meals.
There are various reasons why babies refuse to eat.
1, the influence of systemic diseases: various acute and chronic infectious diseases, especially gastrointestinal diseases.
2, the influence of drugs: such as antibacterial agents, sulfonamides, vitamin A or D overdose can lead to anorexia.
3, the lack of trace elements of zinc, and some endocrine hormone deficiency can also appear anorexia.
4, the impact of climate change: such as high humidity in summer, so that the human body digestive juices and gastric acid secretion reduced, digestive enzyme activity decreased, appetite also decreased.
5.Anorexia nervosa.
① It is more common for babies to leave their relatives, change their family environment, or enter nursery school, not adapt to the new environment, unhappy, depressed, no appetite, and refuse to eat.
Secondly, the parents go into the wrong area of education, overly concerned about the baby’s feeding, when the baby does not want to eat, reprimanded threatening, force-feeding, more caused by the baby resentment, crying, and resistance to eat; some parents are too demanding on the child, so that the child is busy with learning all day, no time to play, not only makes him anorexic, and depressed, and even make appetite decline.
(3) Stubborn anorexia nervosa, is less common, occurring in some older girls, often because of deliberate weight loss, or emotional suppression, depression, resulting in long-term anorexia.
6, improper feeding, diet disorder: This is the most prominent and common cause of anorexia in modern society. Parents over-care, and constantly fine feeding, but fear that nutrition is not enough; especially milk powder and a variety of dairy products continue to increase, so that the baby’s digestive tract overload, can not be digested properly, but make appetite decline. Normal children’s appetite will arise every 3-4 hours when the stomach contents are emptied and blood sugar drops. If eating irregularly, snacking on cold drinks or fruit before meals, the stomach is full of food, blood sugar does not fall, and there will be no hunger, do not think about eating.
7, food allergies: up to 45% of the general population will have varying degrees of intolerance to certain foods, the incidence of infants and children is higher, the intolerance rate of eggs and milk is extremely high, the most manifested is repeated abdominal pain, followed by chronic diarrhea, anorexia, constipation, mouth ulcers, nausea and vomiting.
Pediatric anorexia nervosa is common in children aged 1-6 years, with a high incidence in urban areas. Although there are various reasons for its onset, according to the current analysis of the Department of Information, the most frequent children with anorexia due to improper feeding and dietary disorders are
① Infancy: often due to the lack of or no breastfeeding, artificial feeding, not fixed, variable, milk powder feeding times more than the amount; baby digestion and absorption of the function is still weak, resulting in milk food stagnation in the gastrointestinal tract, the appearance of bad breath, belly expansion, crying, sweating or stool sticky and smelly, or dry, or constipation and other symptoms. But parents do not know the reason, still force-feeding on time, the baby belly bloating more serious, just constantly crying, and finally refused to drink milk powder, and even vomit lotion.
② By the age of 6 months, but not in time to add complementary foods, and not reduce the amount of milk. Many parents are afraid that their babies are not nutritious enough, think that the formula is good, high nutrition, let the baby is addicted to milk powder, to 1 week old still refuse to eat rice, vegetables and meat food, baby picky food results, resulting in unbalanced nutrition. After a long time, weight does not increase, wasting, leading to anemia, rickets.
③ early childhood (1-3 weeks old) because of the previous improper feeding, some children have grown teeth, but refused to chew, addicted to milk powder, drinks, soup, candy, snacks and fried food. These high sugar, high fat, high energy food oversupply, making it difficult for young children to digest and absorb, resulting in the baby’s diet within the accumulation of heat over time, bad breath, abdominal distension, irritability and restlessness, thus no appetite for normal meals, do not want to eat. Caused by unbalanced nutrition of young children, physical development polarization, some children are as thin as bean sprouts, some obese overweight into fat toon.
The consequences of long-term anorexia: anorexia for a long time, the baby ingestion less, weight and height growth is slow, the shape of the day to see thin, the face is less florid, followed by anemia, malnutrition and rickets, etc.. At the same time, because of the lack of qi and blood, resistance to disease is reduced, the baby is easy to catch a cold and fever, leading to respiratory diseases. Physical examination reveals that the weight and height of the chronically anorexic child is lower than that of a healthy child of the same age by more than 80 percent, while anemia accounts for 36.2%, zinc deficiency accounts for 48% and calcium deficiency accounts for 72%.
Diagnosis of anorexia nervosa in children.
① loss of appetite, not thinking about eating, or aversion to eating.
② Eating significantly less than about one-third of normal children of the same age.
③ the duration of anorexia nervosa is more than 2 months.
④ Physical examination does not reveal digestive tract and other systemic diseases.
Treatment methods.
I. General treatment
1. If there are digestive tract and systemic diseases, we should actively treat the original disease.
2.Discontinue drugs that cause gastrointestinal reactions if caused by drugs.
3, zinc-deficient children need to supplement zinc.
4.Summer without hot climate, proper ventilation to reduce room temperature, light diet, easy to digest, also can choose to eat rice kernel, lentils, winter melon, yam and other dampness and spleen-strengthening state to help digestion of food.
5, to anorexia nervosa, the first thing to do is to eliminate the various mental stimuli that cause the baby to be unhappy. Parents should change the incorrect education methods, often play with the child, so that the child to maintain a healthy and good mood, in order to eat normally.
6, improper feeding, eating disorders caused by anorexia, pay attention to reasonable feeding. Advocate breastfeeding, within 6 months of the baby is best to use exclusive breastfeeding, after 6 months of age can be moderate to add milk powder, carefully observe the baby drink milk quantity and speed, according to the baby drink milk condition is normal, good development, and then sequentially add rice and noodles and other complementary foods. First add a single variety, gradually from easily digestible paste food, progress to thick meat and vegetables with thin rice or noodles, do not be too hasty. At the same time to develop good dietary hygiene habits, regular rationing according to the meal, 2 hours before meals do not eat drinks, snacks, so as not to raise blood sugar, affecting the appetite for meals; after meals can eat fruit; nap up can focus on eating some pastries or candy. To often change the food color variety, so that the baby in a relaxed and happy meal. Even if the baby sometimes does not eat well, there is no need to rush, take away the food after 30 minutes, but not with dairy products or snacks to supplement, a meal did not eat well, the next meal will naturally eat when hungry, no need to worry. Never threaten to threaten the baby to eat, not to mention forced to eat, and do not cajole and tease to force the baby to eat, a meal fed for one or two hours, affecting the next meal, but also to develop the baby to play while eating and picky eating bad habits.
7, there are food allergies try to avoid allergic food, according to the degree of allergy can choose to prohibit eating, eating round, eat less.
Second, Chinese medicine evidence-based treatment
Damp food stagnation type: eliminate stagnation, transport the spleen and dry dampness: Baohe pill spleen and stomach qi deficiency type: benefit the qi and strengthen the spleen, help transport and wake up the spleen: Isokong san stomach yin deficiency type: acid and sweet to transform yin, nourish the stomach and produce fluid: nourishing stomach soup Ying and Wei disharmony type: harmonize Ying and Wei, transport the spleen and wake up the stomach: Gui Zhi Tang liver and stomach disharmony type: dredge the liver and regulate qi, lower the rebellion and stomach: Si Wei San worms accumulate and injure the spleen type: drive away worms and accumulate, strengthen the spleen and open up the stomach: Huayu pill
Third, anorexia food therapy
1, 9 red dates to remove the core, orange peel 5 grams, 50 grams of round-grained rice, put together in a pot, add the right amount of water and cook into a thin porridge, eat in the morning on an empty stomach, and serve for 1 week. It has the effect of strengthening the spleen and nourishing blood, eliminating food and moving Qi. It is suitable for children who do not think about eating and drinking after illness, with yellow face and weakness.
2, burnt yellow potpourri 50 grams, 30 grams of grain buds, 30 grams of wheat sprouts, add the appropriate amount of water and boil for 30 minutes, take the juice with a small amount of salt or honey seasoning to drink. It has the effect of strengthening the spleen and eliminating food stagnation. It is suitable for children with stagnant food, thin and greasy tongue and anorexia.
3, 500 grams of kumquat, sliced, mixed with 500 grams of sugar, bottled honey bee 2 weeks (now available sugar kumquat can also be), each time to take 25 grams, boiling water to drink, and used for 1 week. It has the effect of strengthening the spleen, eliminating food and promoting the production of body fluid and Qi. Suitable for anorexic children with spleen deficiency, stomach pain, belching and chest tightness, thirst and not thinking about eating.
4, 250 grams of carrot, washed and decocted in water, add the right amount of brown sugar, take the juice to drink congestion in lieu of tea. Has a spleen and eliminate food, move the Qi and produce fluid effect. Suitable for food accumulation in the internal, bad breath and chest tightness, thin and weak anorexic children.
5, 150 grams of fresh sour plum washed, warm water softened to remove the core, add 50 grams of sugar, with pounding into a pulp, punch into the Sydney juice 100 ml, add 500 ml of cool boiled water. Drink 15-30 ml each time, 4 times a day. It has the effect of quenching thirst and roundworm and promoting digestion. Suitable for stomach acid deficiency, red tongue with less coating, thirst, anorexic children with worm spots on the face.
4.Acupuncture “four sutures” acupuncture point method
After routine local disinfection of the palm surface of the child’s hand brace with 75% alcohol cotton ball, puncture the “four sutures” point with a disposable blood collection needle, about 1,5 mm deep, squeeze out the clear liquid or mucus until blood is seen, then wipe dry with a dry cotton ball, and compress to stop bleeding that is completed once. Needling 1 to 2 times a week, 3 to 6 times for a course of treatment. The longer the duration of anorexia in children, the more severe the disease, the more fluid is squeezed out the thicker, and vice versa, the fluid is less and clear. The “four sutures” point is located on the first and second joints of the palm surface of the index, middle, ring and little fingers of both hands at the central dew point. Puncturing the “four sutures” points can clear heat and remove annoyance, smooth all the veins and harmonize the internal organs, and is mostly used to treat diseases such as milk consumption and noma.
V. Chiropractic method
It has the effect of harmonizing yin and yang, strengthening the spleen and stomach, unblocking the meridians, and activating blood flow. The first step is to gently rub the child’s back a few times before chiropractic to relax the child’s muscles, and then slide the right thumb along the Governor’s vein from the large vertebrae point to the long strong point, 2-3 times. At this point, then start from the bottom up with the thumb radial edge of the top of the skin, the forefinger, middle finger press, three fingers at the same time hard to lift the skin, alternating twisting hands forward, to do with the pinch, with the lift, with the release, with the forward advance. General pinch 3-5 times, that is, the end.