What to do when your child is anorexic?

Prolonged anorexia in children causes many consequences: malnutrition, underdevelopment of stature and brain. Parents need a solution to make their children eat more deliciously and repel anorexia.

1. What are the consequences of anorexia in children?

Anorexia is common in children under 3 years of age. Symptoms of anorexia are very diverse. Children 6 months of anorexia often suckle less, not excited about solid foods. Older children often eat slowly or very slowly (meals can last 30 minutes - 2 hours), children hold food in their mouths, refuse to swallow, do not feel hungry, so they do not ask for food, pretending to have stomach pain when When it comes to meals,...
When anorexia lasts for a long time, children will suffer from lack of energy, lack of nutrients, slow weight gain, slow growth in height, rickets, malnutrition and even underdevelopment. about brain.
At the same time, children often have a weakened immune system, reduced resistance to pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, ... and an increased risk of inflammatory diseases such as colds, diarrhea, inflammation. respiratory tract,... When sick, the baby is anorexic and has reduced resistance.

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Children who are undernourished and sick will have cognitive and emotional disorders, affecting their cognitive and learning abilities in the short term and can last up to 5 years later.

2. Children with anorexia slow to gain weight, what to do?

Overcoming anorexia in children requires the whole family, school and doctor to work together to help the child catch up with the growth momentum. Some measures parents should take are:

2.1. Prepare nutritious and attractive dishes

Many parents are only interested in nutritious meals, so they often mix all the foods that are considered nutritious together and then cook them into porridge and powder for their babies. This makes the food lose its attractiveness in appearance and taste, so children will not want to eat it, eventually leading to anorexia.
Many other families only feed their children a fixed number of foods and are loyal to only a few ways of cooking such as porridge, steaming, boiling,... These dishes often do not attract children, making them fast. got bored because the menu was repeated too many times.

Therefore, if you want to overcome anorexia in children, parents should let them go to the market, choose their favorite food or let them decorate their own dishes. For younger children, parents need to diversify cooking ingredients and ways to prepare food for them. Thus, the baby will feel more delicious eating and repel anorexia.

2.2. Create a happy eating atmosphere, do not force children to eat

Parents often try to force their children to eat the required amount of food. This inadvertently creates psychological pressure for children when entering the dining table. Some children also feel afraid to eat, pretend to have stomachache, vomit, ... when it's time to eat. Therefore, parents should create a happy and comfortable meal atmosphere for children to actively eat by themselves.

2.3. Do not let children snack before meals

While some parents are too strict in their children's eating, there are many parents who are too indulgent in their children's wishes. When children ask for snacks, many people are willing to feed them without control in quantity or time. This makes children never feel hungry at the main meal, so they will not want to eat.
Therefore, parents should not give their children too many snacks, especially before the main meal. If you want to give your baby complementary foods, parents should only feed them after the main meal.

2.4. Teach children to be active

In order to overcome the situation of children with anorexia and growth retardation, in addition to adjusting the child's nutrition and eating habits, parents should give children exercise habits. Parents can take their children out to play, learn to ride a bike, go swimming or have fun with friends at the park, yard, etc. Movement helps to consume energy quickly so the baby will be hungry quickly and eat well. more and more in main meals.

2.5. Supplement essential nutrients for children

Children with anorexia will slow to gain weight, slow to gain height because they do not receive enough nutrients needed for growth from their daily diet, especially vitamins A, B vitamins, vitamin C, and calcium. , iron, zinc, lysine and iodine.
To make the baby eat well again, parents can give the child more foods rich in micronutrients or nutritional supplements as recommended by the doctor.

2.6. Some other measures

Periodic deworming for children every 6 months because infection with worms, flukes, ... is one of the causes of weakness and anorexia. Do not mix medicine in children's dishes because this makes them wary when eating and drinking, maybe even they will hate the food that they liked before. You can let your child participate in the preparation of cooking ingredients because then they will want to eat the dishes that they contributed to the preparation. It is possible to divide the child's food portion so that he does not get bored because he has to eat too much in one meal.

If the child's anorexia persists for a long time, parents should supplement their children with supportive products containing lysine, essential micro-minerals and vitamins such as zinc, chromium, selenium, and B vitamins to help fully meet their needs. nutrition in children. At the same time, these essential vitamins also support digestion, enhance nutrient absorption, help improve anorexia, and help children eat well. Parents can also apply dietary supplements and functional foods derived from nature for easy absorption by the baby. The most important thing is that the improvement of the baby's symptoms must take place over the long term. Combining many types of functional foods at the same time or changing many types in a short time can make the baby's digestive system unable to adapt and completely not good. Therefore, parents must be really persistent with their children and regularly visit the website vimec.com to update useful baby care information.

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