Constipation and fecal incontinence are two of the most common clinical problems that physicians face in pediatric surgical anorectal clinics. Since pseudo-incontinence in preschool children is most often secondary to chronic constipation, reasonable and effective interventions for constipation, especially constipation caused by poor dietary structure (accounting for 60-70% of constipation), have become an important part of outpatient treatment in anorectal surgery. When providing guidance for constipation caused by poor dietary structure, doctors have found that there are several important misconceptions in traditional dietary therapy, so it is necessary to clarify these very common misconceptions in order to help children find basic laxative recipes that are suitable for the individual child. There are several important misconceptions in traditional dietary therapy that parents need to clarify. 1. Apples. Apples are traditionally thought of as a laxative diet. Parents often give their children raw apples in the hope of achieving a laxative effect. If you search the web, the title “cooked apples stop diarrhea, raw apples laxative” also comes up. In fact, “raw peeled apples” are recommended as a constipation diet at the internationally renowned Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center, along with cooked apples and bananas, for children with diarrhea and incontinence after anal surgery. 2. Bananas. As mentioned above, bananas, especially unripe bananas, also contain large amounts of ellagic acid. Most of the bananas marketed in the north are sold after ripening. Although the bananas ripened in this way no longer have the sourness and astringency brought by tannic acid, the tannic acid content still exists, so many children eat them, not only can not help defecation, but also will aggravate constipation. This is the reason we do not recommend bananas as a laxative diet. 3, honeysuckle lotion and other herbal preparations. Honeysuckle lotion and some Chinese herbal preparations to clear heat and fire, because they contain cold ingredients, short-term use can indeed reduce the symptoms of constipation in children, but long-term use is easy to hurt children’s spleen and kidney Yang Qi, resulting in children’s digestive function is impaired. It should not be used for a long time. Is it possible to find a basic recipe for laxatives that is suitable for the individual child? There is no single recipe that is suitable for each individual. In general, a high-fiber diet can help relieve constipation symptoms. Foods rich in water-soluble fiber are used for laxative purposes by osmosis. These include: pectin, corn flour, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, peeled potatoes, citrus, etc. Foods rich in insoluble fiber are laxative by promoting bowel movements: vegetables (especially those that can be eaten raw), beans, water-rich berries and watermelon, pears, plums, etc. Pasta seems to be the only coarse processed foods such as whole wheat products and oatmeal, tortillas, etc. On the contrary, our daily consumption of milk and dairy products, meat, refined flour processed foods, eggs, and sweets can be a diet for constipation in the therapeutic sense. Therefore, increasing the intake of high fiber diet and reducing the intake of high protein and refined starch is crucial for constipation caused by dietary structure problems. According to the pyramid of reasonable nutrition structure for Chinese people, vegetables and fruits + grains and potatoes and mixed beans should account for 1/3 to 2/3 of the total daily diet weight, while in constipated children, the above ratio is basically far out of balance. In addition to the foods listed above, some parents may ask if it is okay to eat honey, add more oil to the food? What about yogurt? Is it okay to eat spicy foods? Given the individual differences, parents need to be aware of how their children react to these foods. However, due to individual differences, the specific recipes that apply to your child will need to be carefully observed and adjusted by parents. In addition, since a significant portion of constipation is caused by congenital abnormalities, some children may require further testing to rule out surgical disorders such as megacolon, anorectal malformations, spinal cord tethering, etc. and prompt surgical intervention.