How to deal with anorexia, or sucking children?

For two months now, every mealtime, Tom and his mother, Thu Ha (Thu Duc, Ho Chi Minh City) have to “struggle” with each other for 2-3 hours. Since starting weaning, Shrimp has shown signs of anorexia. In particular, when the 2 upper molars erupt, when the time comes to eat, the baby holds the porridge in his mouth and refuses to swallow, sometimes spitting it out. Babies gain weight very slowly. Many times, too angry, Ms. Ha let her children hold back. After that, the baby was too hungry to eat but only ate a little and then stopped.

The condition of Ms. Ngoc Huong’s baby (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City) is also not better. Her daughter is 13 months old this year, but she is anorexic. She tried to change the menu, took the time to learn how to decorate the dishes beautifully… but without success.

Assoc. Prof. TS.BS Le Bach Mai – Former Deputy Director of the National Institute of Nutrition; Medical director of Northern Nutrihome, said that the habit of sucking on food of children not only makes parents tired and stressed, but also causes many dangerous consequences to health such as: affecting the teeth, disorders of the system. digestive and dietary function, impaired immune system, malnutrition. To overcome the situation of anorexia or sucking on children, Assoc. Prof. TS.BS Le Bach Mai advises parents not to puree food, but only to crush food for children during the weaning period. Children follow the rule of eating from thin to thick, from little to more.

When children are 7, 8 months old, they should practice the habit of picking and picking up food by themselves, so they will be interested in each meal. For older children, it is recommended to learn the children’s eating needs and preferences in combination with more attractive food decorations to stimulate the baby to chew and swallow. At the same time, changing dishes often also has the effect of stimulating children to eat more.

Each meal of an anorexic or suckling child needs to be taken seriously, so let the baby eat on the dining chair, absolutely do not let the child eat while watching TV so that the baby will pay more attention to eating. Adults need to regularly praise, encourage and encourage their children to eat well, to help them get excited and eat better.

Parents should not force children to eat too much in one meal, they should divide many small meals so that the child feels comfortable. Finally, it is necessary to strengthen children to be active every day. For children with anorexia, exercise helps burn energy effectively, they will eat better, their digestive system is improved better, making it easier for them to absorb all nutrients.

However, the mother should let the child perform age-appropriate activities and regularly keep an eye on them. For babies who are not yet able to walk, mothers can massage their stomachs, let them crawl, turn, and play together to increase bowel movements, stimulate children to eat well and absorb well.

“If the child is anorexic, or sucks food for a long time, parents should not arbitrarily give the child drugs that activate digestive enzymes and stimulate the child to eat well. Because using an unreasonable dose will cause problems. Parents should take their children to the doctor early to find out the cause and get the right treatment, help them eat well and gain weight quickly, “said Associate Professor Le Bach Mai.

Assoc. Prof. TS.BS Le Bach Mai said that for children who are lazy to eat, or suck or only swallow food when eating with soup or while eating and drinking, parents should take the child to the doctor soon. This condition may indicate that the baby is suffering from some annoying illness such as a sore throat or digestive tract problems that make him anorexic. Children may be anorexic due to inappropriate psychology, physiology or eating habits, and need early intervention to help them grow properly.

If it is determined that the child refuses to swallow due to a medical condition, the doctor will treat the diseases and symptoms to help the baby eat well again.

Some reasons for anorexia in children

If the child is completely normal, parents should consider the following causes and find ways to overcome so that the child can return to a normal eating state:

Children who are forced to eat, eat too much: Some children do not like to eat, do not want to eat much, so they will find ways to prolong the eating time by holding food in their mouth. This action gradually becomes a habit, making anorexia more serious.

Feeding unsuitable foods to children: many children do not have teeth yet, or have only a few teeth, parents have given them tough, hard foods that make it difficult for children to chew and swallow, so they have to keep them in their mouths. Besides, because of the impatience to want the child to gain weight, the parents forced the child to eat too much food that the child did not like, causing the child to be uncooperative.

Puree food: A common habit of mothers is to puree food for children to eat and swallow, so when switching to solid food, children are not used to eating, so they are lazy to chew or suck. When children refuse to chew, they will not secrete enzymes to digest food, causing reduced digestive function, reduced absorption.

Unpalatable food: There are some foods that children do not like to eat but mothers do not realize, so often cooking for children also makes children lazy to eat or suck. Besides, it is possible that the mother’s way of preparing food is not suitable for the taste, which also makes the baby anorexic or suck.

ID