WHAT'S UP DOC: Does your child refuse to eat? Read why
Is your child refusing to eat food? If you are worried that his/her loss of appetite could point to a serious health problem, you need to know the fact that poor appetite in children is a common complaint among mothers.
Here are the possible reasons.
1. Stress
Your child could have stress and here, to help him/her you need to identify that stressor and alleviate it. May be the child is bullied somewhere. It could be that you, as a parent are subjecting the child to some expectations. The child could also be mourning loss of a sibling or any other member of the family or a toy.
2. Anaemia
This happens when the food you give to your child is not rich in iron. The child becomes irritable, weak, tired, compared to other children. This could affect growth and performance in school. Seek medical advice.
3. Slow growth rate
In this case, decline in food appetite for a child is something normal. What happens is that during the first one year of growth, a child grows rapidly but this process slows down after this age—and he/she may eat less.
4. Sickness
Your child could be sick. When this is the problem, a child may regain the appetite after recovery. The illness could be diarrhoea, headache, sore throat or even fever.
5. Depression
Here, it’s easy for a parent to think the child is simply sad. However, this could be depression—a condition that will exist longer than mere sadness. If he/she changes the eating habits, this could be a case of depression. Seek medical help to deal with the depression.
6. Anorexia nervosa
Psychologically, your child could be aversive to food. The child simply refuses to eat and this goes on for a long time. There is need to see a psychologist to help your child out of this,
7. Medication
If your child has been taking medication such has antibiotics, then, there could be a tendency to lose food appetite. This is a side-affect that will eventually go away.
8. Worm infestation
Here, the worms enter into the child’s food canal. Later, make the child lose appetite. This could also result into intestinal bleeding and diarrhoea with blood. You need to deworm your child with the right medication.
9. Constipation
Your child could be constipating—you need to find out how he/she passes stool.
Follow me next week on how to deal with a child who refuses to eat.
