Your Childrens Health

You may not believe it but constipation is a common problem among children especially school age children. The reason being is that they are not getting enough water and fiber in their daily diets. When a child begins school, they normally eat quicker so they can go out to recess, their only break from schoolwork all day. Because of this, they normally do not eat as well as they do at home. How many children are going to take the time out while in school to drink the proper amount of water? Well, in most cases, the school will not even allow them to drink enough water during the day to keep them healthy. Most of the foods served at school also lack the dietary fiber that children need in order to have regular bowel movements or the children just skip over those foods.

Many children find it hard to go to the bathroom during the day as well while they are in school, afraid they will be late to class, or they do not wish to miss any recess time to go. This can also cause constipation in children. Stress is another problem that brings on constipation in children.

Normally the way in which to tell if your child is constipated is that a child should have a bowel every day, however, no one is the same. The best way to know is if they are not having bowel movements like they normally have. If your child tells you it hurts to go to the bathroom or they are having problems going, you can bet they are constipated.

The ways to avoid constipation in your child are:

• Try to get them to drink more fluids. If they are not drinking enough liquids during school, try your best to compensate at home by giving them 3 or 4 glasses of water each day. If you believe they are constipated you can try to get them to drink prune juice. This may relieve the problem.
• Give your child plenty of foods that are high in fiber such as vegetables, whole grain breads and fruits. Offer fruits instead of other snacks for their after school snack.
• Exercise is another great way in which to prevent constipation. Just getting out on a sunny day and running around will help the bowels to work.
• Have a regular meal schedule. The idea here is to develop regular bowel habits with regular meal times.
• Try to get your child not to hold it when he has to go.

Remember, not every child is the same and if your child is constipated for a few days and you see no change you should visit your doctor.

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This entry was posted on Monday, March 13th, 2006 at 5:09 pm and is filed under Diet and Nutrition. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.