Anorexia malnourishment in children: how to overcome and treat

Children in the first years of life not only face many physical defects but are also susceptible to health effects from external environmental influences. Because at this stage, children are developing and gradually perfecting the functions of the body. However, for some reason, it can also affect the development of children, causing anorexia and malnourishment in children. Some of the reasons can include:
Parents lack of knowledge in the care and upbringing of children: Young parents, and for the first time taking on this noble role, will often be very inexperienced in caring for children. care and nurture children. From there, it leads to mistakes in taking care of children when healthy as well as sick.... Or if there is a shortage of milk, when the mother lacks real knowledge, it can cause the child to be affected by the diet. milk, thereby making children immunocompromised as well as can cause digestive disorders. The child's nutrition does not meet the needs, is not reasonable for the age of the child, making the child more likely to be malnourished. When children are not provided with all the necessary nutrients for their body, they will not be excited to eat, thereby leading to nutritional imbalances, causing anorexia, food digestion disorders. . In the case of children with intestinal disorders, if children regularly use antibiotics to treat acute or chronic diseases, it can cause the risk of digestive disorders in children. Because antibiotics used for children can destroy the beneficial and harmful bacteria of the intestinal tract, leading to an imbalance that causes dysbacteriosis, children will not feel appetizing and nutrients are also difficult to absorb. more into the body. Parents do not provide enough micronutrients, so micronutrient deficiencies appear in children and affect appetite. Because micronutrients in addition to helping children grow and develop comprehensively, these nutrients are also considered factors that stimulate the secretion of digestive enzymes to help children eat well. When parents do not provide enough nutrients, children are limited in the secretion of digestive enzymes, causing loss of appetite and food digestion. Unreasonable and healthy living habits: Children often snacking, using water in snacks can greatly affect their main meals. Even changing the child's taste makes children not like to eat the food their parents cook... Some diseases children encounter will also affect the child's condition, making them anorexic and malnourished. Children often fall ill, suffer from chronic diseases, causing poor health, causing anorexia, reduced physical condition, leading to malnutrition.

Malnutrition in anorexic children is considered as a condition in which the body does not provide adequate nutrients in both quantity and quality or the child's growth has abnormal signs. According to the World Health Organization, undernutrition in children is divided into different levels, the purpose of which is to help treat anorexia malnourished children better:
Malnutrition grade 1: Then the child's weight is still low. about 70-80% of the weight of a normal healthy child. At this time, the child's subcutaneous fat layer is thin, the child still has signs of appetite and no signs of digestive disorders. Malnutrition grade 2: The weight of children at this stage is usually in the range of 60-70% of the weight compared to normal healthy children. Children at this stage begin to show signs of thinness, no subcutaneous fat layer, especially in the abdomen, buttocks, legs, arms... and children also begin to show signs of digestive disorders from time to time. with anorexia. Undernutrition grade 3 at this time the child's status is severe with the weight of which can be equal to or less than 60% of the healthy child's weight. Severe malnutrition can exist in forms such as edema, atrophy and mixed bodies. For malnourished children at level 1 and level 2, the child can be treated at home by parents by changing the diet to be reasonable and suitable for the child. Applying this treatment for malnourished children, parents can do as:
Parents can supplement their children with micronutrients such as iron, zinc, selenium, ... for the purpose of meeting their needs. recommendations for children to help them recover and develop normally. When building a diet for children, parents should choose foods rich in nutrients and minerals such as bean sprouts, beans, eggs, milk, beef, chicken, chicken, seafood... In addition to using protein sources. If you come from animals, you should also choose plant-based proteins such as beans, peanuts, sesame... Parents should make a varied and rich food choice including all 4 food groups to help for children's meals to meet standards in both quality and quantity. In addition, when choosing foods with eye-catching colors, it also helps children to stimulate their taste and vision when eating, making them more interested in food. In the process of eating, parents should not put pressure on the child so that the child may have conflicting reactions against the parents' requests.

For severely malnourished children, the child's eating level becomes poor, children often have digestive disorders, which leads to immunodeficiency in children. And this is also considered the cause of children's illness and failure to develop comprehensively. In these children with severe malnutrition, parents need to take their children to the doctor to get adequate advice on child care issues as well as minimize the serious nutritional status of children.
In addition, parents can supplement with minerals and micronutrients to help improve their children's health or apply some of the following notes to help improve their children's nutritional status:
Children's daily meals should be divided into small meals, the purpose is to help children be provided with adequate nutrients in meals. Because children at this stage will have anorexia and anorexia, so if they force children to eat a lot in one meal, it may have negative effects or the child will react in the opposite direction and not respond to parents. In the process of choosing food and preparing food, parents must completely ensure food hygiene and safety to create safe and secure meals for children. Regular personal hygiene for children and the surrounding environment. Parents should encourage and encourage children to help them cooperate with their parents in overcoming and improving their nutritional status. Parents should give their children periodic health checks, especially about their weight and height, so that they can grasp the child's health and nutritional status early so that they can have timely interventions to help the child develop. overview. In summary, the improvement of the symptoms of anorexia children can take place for a long time, so it is recommended that parents be calm and persistent when supplementing with nutrients, even through eating or functional foods. In particular, the use of functional foods should choose those of natural origin that are easily absorbed, do not allow children to use many types at the same time or continuously change the types of functional foods. If necessary, you can consult a doctor, a nutritionist to have the appropriate indications for the current health status of the child.