FOOD PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN: WHAT TO DO ABOUT DIARRHOEA

Monday, April 20, 2009 12:18

Posted in category Allergies

Acute attacks of diarrhoea should be taken very seriously indeed, especially in small babies. They can lose so much water from the body that they become seriously ill. In extreme cases they can suffer brain damage or die. The signs of moderate to severe dehydration are little urine, which is very dark and smells strongly (or no urine at all), sleepiness, dry sunken eyes, fast breathing and dry mouth. If you see these signs you should get medical help without delay, as the baby needs special treatment to replace the lost water and salts. This treatment may be given by mouth (when it is known as oral rehydration therapy or ORT) or directly into the bloodstream in more serious cases. In mild cases of dehydration, there are mixtures of salts that can be used for ORT at home. These are marketed under various names, including Rehidrat, Dioralyte and Gluco-lyte, and are available on prescription. Older children and adults can also become dehydrated during severe attacks of diarrhoea, and ORT can be useful for them as well

Given that the doctor has ruled out infection and other likely causes for the diarrhoea, then food sensitivity should be considered.

As new foods are introduced into a child’s diet, there may be temporary’ bouts of diarrhoea in response to them, although these do not necessarily develop as soon as the new food is eaten. Such transient diarrhoea is sometimes given the name toddler diarrhoea and is characterized by loose stools that contain some undigested food. Toddler diarrhoea usually clears up by about two years of age, and the usual medical advice is to leave it untreated. Given what we now know about food sensitivity, this is not necessarily the best advice. There seems to be a general pattern in some children, particularly with illnesses such as colic and eczema, of symptoms disappearing but other symptoms appearing later in their wake. If this is also true of toddler diarrhoea then it might be better, in the long run, to identify the offending foods and avoid them for a while. In one study, six out of 21 children with toddler diarrhoea proved to be food-sensitive.