Nutritional dyspepsia in children is a common disease that is characterized by a violation of the digestive process. Most often, this pathology is diagnosed in children under the age of one year, but it also occurs in the older generation. The severity of the course of the disease depends on the amount of food consumed by the child. And this is due to the fact that the digestive system at this age is not always ready to cope with the volume of incoming food. It is easy to identify the disease at the initial stage, because the symptoms are quite pronounced.
Varieties of dyspepsia
There are several types of dyspepsia in children: functional or alimentary, toxic and parenteral.
Alimentary form is a digestive disorder that occurs due to an unbalanced diet of the baby. This form is divided into five varieties:
- Fermentation is due to fermentation processes that occur due to excessive consumption of foods containing carbohydrates. As a result, in the baby's large intestine quicklyfermentation bacteria multiply.
- Putrefactive - when the child's intestines are inhabited by putrefactive microbes, the reproduction of which is provoked by food oversaturated with protein.
- Fat is typical for children who eat large amounts of fatty foods.
- Toxic. A very dangerous type of nutritional dyspepsia in infants. The main source of the problem are intestinal pathogens such as Salmonella, E. coli, Shigella and other pathogens.
Parenteral develops as a result of a complication after an illness, such as pneumonia
Temporary dyspepsia is often observed in newborns 3-5 days after birth. It lasts only a few days, until the child's body adapts to the external environment, does not require any treatment, as it passes on its own.
Causes of nutritional dyspepsia
The main reason for the development of dyspepsia in children is a violation of the diet, often young parents overfeed their babies, worrying that they will cry from hunger.
If a baby is offered food that does not correspond to his age, for example, they introduce complementary foods early and do it wrong, then this provokes a violation of the digestion processes in the intestines.
There are many adverse factors that provoke the development of alimentary dyspepsia (ICD code 10 - K30).
Children under one year suffer most often, and the reasons for thisweight:
- Overeating. It is most commonly seen in formula-fed babies because it is much easier for the baby to suckle milk from a bottle and he cannot stop, which eventually leads to overeating.
- Low in digestive enzymes.
- Eating foods that are not suitable for the age of the baby. That is why a young mother needs not only to know when to introduce complementary foods to a breastfed child, but also what foods. Pediatricians advise stopping at single-component dishes and starting to introduce them into the diet no earlier than at 4 months if the baby is artificially fed. If a mother is breastfeeding, then complementary foods should be postponed until 6 months.
- Prematurity.
In older children, dyspepsia develops due to the following reasons:
- Excessive consumption of foods that are difficult for digestion. These include: fried, spicy, smoked and fatty foods.
- Eating disorders, such as a heavy dinner just before going to bed.
- Hormonal changes characteristic of puberty.
There are a number of common causes that are common to all ages:
- faults in the nervous system;
- allergic reactions;
- rickets;
- anemia;
- parasitic infestations;
- avitaminosis;
- low weight.
Nutritional dyspepsia in children is a serious disease accompanied by unpleasant symptoms.
Symptoms of dyspepsia
Clinicalmanifestations of dyspepsia in infants and older children are characterized by the following symptoms:
- constipation followed by diarrhea;
- frequent bowel movements, up to 5 times a day;
- the presence of mucus and lumps in the feces;
- bloating;
- increased gas separation;
- quick saturation;
- reduction or lack of appetite;
- intestinal colic;
- burp.
Such symptoms are observed within a week, if you do not seek help from a specialist and do not start timely treatment, then the child develops a more severe form - toxic. You can determine the development of a severe form by the following signs:
- a sharp increase in body temperature, up to a fever;
- constant feeling of nausea and frequent vomiting;
- diarrhea, the baby's intestines can be emptied up to 20 times a day;
- severe dehydration;
- falling fontanel in infants;
- drastic weight loss;
- decrease in reflexes;
- lack of interest in new and previously unseen;
- convulsions and seizures.
Toxic form of nutritional dyspepsia can cause impaired consciousness, coma and death.
What happens in the body with dyspepsia?
The mucosa of the small intestine in a child and an adult is rapidly renewed, while all nutrients are lost along with dying cells. The epithelium is updated in a couple of days. That's whythe rectum reacts very strongly to the lack of certain components. For the normal structure of the mucosa, a large amount of nutritious foods is needed, with age their range increases.
In the pathogenesis, an important role is played by the exocrine function of the pancreas and the separation of bile. After food enters the small intestine that has not been fully digested, the proper release of enzymes is disrupted. Such conditions lead to the fact that the motor function of the intestine is disturbed, the bacteria spread throughout the intestine, which ultimately provokes the processes of putrefaction and fermentation.
This condition leads to the formation of toxic products in large quantities, such as skatole, indole, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and others. These substances irritate the intestinal mucosa, which affects its motility, and the result is diarrhea. The accelerated passage of food does not allow digestion to function properly. With nutritional dyspepsia, lime s alts are formed in the body, which kill bifidobacteria that normally live in a he althy intestine.
That is why it is important for parents to pay attention to the first symptoms in time and seek the advice of a specialist.
Diagnosis of dyspepsia
If there is a suspicion that the child develops dyspepsia, then it is urgent to seek advice from a specialist. He will collect an anamnesis, find out from his parents when the first symptoms appeared, how pronounced they are. After that, the doctor will evaluate the symptoms and additionally prescribe laboratory tests.fecal examination.
It is important for a specialist to accurately diagnose, excluding the development of other diseases, such as:
- chronic enteritis;
- atrophic gastritis;
- chronic pancreatitis.
To get more accurate data on the condition of the child's intestines, parents need to know how to collect feces for analysis from a child.
Collecting feces for analysis
All adults know that it is necessary to collect urine and feces in the morning, immediately after a person wakes up. But it is very difficult to force a small child to empty his intestines in the morning. Many parents resort to enemas, but pediatricians do not advise doing this. Babies can collect feces even if their bowels are emptied in the afternoon. The main thing is that it is stored in the refrigerator.
How to collect feces for analysis from a child:
- first of all, purchase a special container with a plastic spoon on the lid at the pharmacy;
- it is not necessary to wash the child before collecting feces, because it is not always possible to guess when he wants to empty his intestines;
- you can collect feces from a disposable diaper using a special spoon that comes with the container;
- the resulting analysis is sent to the refrigerator, and in the morning it is handed over to the laboratory for analysis.
You can not store feces for more than two days, in which case the data obtained will be inaccurate. It is better to collect material on the day before the test.
After receiving the data on the analysis, the pediatric gastroenterologistwill consider and select an individual treatment plan for the child.
Medicated treatment
To eliminate symptoms of dyspepsia that are unpleasant for a child, it is important to find the cause of their appearance. After it is found, a whole therapeutic complex is selected, which includes:
- compliance with diet;
- taking medications;
- other treatments, such as tummy tuck massage, to help relieve pain and improve digestion.
As for the selection of drugs, most often experts stop at the following:
- Maalox;
- Mezim;
- Cisapride.
These medicines help to facilitate the process of digestion of food, due to which the intestinal microflora is restored, heaviness and pain in the stomach go away.
Diet food for dyspepsia
If you do not follow a special diet, then drug treatment will not bring any results. The diet is based on reducing the amount of food consumed by the child and restoring the body's water balance.
Diet for a child with dyspepsia is designed for 5 days:
- On the first day you need to take a break between feedings for a period of 8 hours. During this period, the baby should be allowed to drink more fluids. Both children's tea and special pharmacy products that help eliminate dehydration ("Rehydron") are suitable.
- On the second day, the baby is fed as usual, but only the amount of food consumed is reduced. Complementary foods are not introduced during this period. The amount of food should be 75% of the age norm.
- On the third day, feeding takes place as usual, but the portion is reduced by another 10%, the missing amount is replaced with liquid.
- On the fourth day, the baby is fed as usual, in accordance with his age category. Complementary foods are not introduced.
- On the fifth day, it is allowed to introduce complementary foods in the form of foods that the child has already consumed before. New food products are not introduced.
Food for children under one year old should be strictly scheduled for months. From the table below, you can find out when and how much to introduce complementary foods to the child, as well as the allowable amount of food that the baby should eat.
Do not ignore it and decide for yourself when and how much to add new foods to the diet. This kind of decision can lead to the development of serious pathologies, which will be difficult to cure.
The dangers of overfeeding
Babies cannot control the amount of food they eat. Therefore, it is important to ensure that portions correspond to age norms. Overfeeding can also provoke dyspepsia in the baby. In the table below, you can see the nutritional norms for children up to a year by months. You should not strictly adhere to these norms, because all the values are averaged, and the appetite in children is determined by individual parameters, butit is still worth paying attention to these points.
If you notice signs of overfeeding in your baby (frequent regurgitation, increased gas formation, excessive weight gain), then you should adjust his diet.
Folk treatments for dyspepsia
It can be quite difficult for parents to determine the causes of bloating in a child after eating. Treatment of such a symptom should be carried out by a specialist after the cause of this condition is found. The doctor may recommend taking pharmaceutical preparations or traditional medicine recipes. The following recipes will help to effectively cope with the symptoms of dyspepsia:
- Rice congee. To prepare it, you need to take 1 teaspoon of rice and pour it with a liter of water. Put it on a low fire to cook until the rice is completely boiled. The result should be a paste, which is filtered through gauze and given to the child two tablespoons every 2-3 hours.
- Decoction of oak bark will help to fix the stool. To prepare it, you will need 1 teaspoon of chopped bark, which is poured into a glass of water and sent to simmer for 15 minutes on a slow fire. After that, the broth is removed from the fire, cooled, water is added to the desired amount and allowed to drink to a child under the age of 1 year, a teaspoon up to 5 times a day.
- It is important not only to eliminate the symptoms, but also to find the cause of bloating after eating. Treatment can be supplemented by the use of a decoction of pomegranate peel. To prepare it, you need a teaspoon of powder,obtained from dried pomegranate peel, which is poured into 500 ml of hot water, kept in a water bath for 15 minutes. After that, the broth is infused for two hours and filtered. A child up to a year is given a teaspoon of funds no more than three times a day.
Nutritional dyspepsia in children is treated quickly if all recommendations are followed, but it is still better to prevent its development. It is better for parents to take preventive measures.
Prevention of dyspepsia
Preventive measures for bowel disorders of this kind are to follow a number of rules:
- parents should rationally and balancedly feed their child according to his age;
- no overeating or eating junk food;
- teenagers need to lead a he althy lifestyle;
- requires regular moderate exercise;
- showing strict hygiene before meals;
- requires regular visits to a specialist, at least once a year.
The prognosis for children who have been diagnosed with dyspepsia is mostly favorable, ending with a quick and complete recovery without consequences or complications. But if the parents do not seek help in a timely manner, do not follow the doctor's recommendations, then the prognosis will not be so comforting. The child may develop a toxic form, and it will already lead to a coma or death of the child.
