Why do children always bite their nails?

Many children like to bite their fingernails, which makes us as parents very distressed. After all, children often play and touch many things, and biting their fingernails is very unhygienic. Frequent biting of fingernails is very bad for the body. Many bacteria will be eaten by children unknowingly. This habit is also very unsightly and is a very bad habit. The biggest headache for many parents is that they don’t know how to correct it, and the children don’t listen to their parents very much.

1. Symptoms

Nail biting refers to the recurring behavior of children biting their fingernails voluntarily or involuntarily. Some people may also bite their toenails. It is common in children aged 10 to 18 years, but can occur as early as 4 years old. According to foreign reports, about 50% of children will exhibit this behavior at some point in their life, but the incidence rate decreases as they age. At the age of 18, 23% of people still bite their nails. Although there is no significant gender difference in incidence in the age group of 5 to 10 years old, nail biting is more common among men above this age group. 10% of men over 30 years old have this habit disorder. Nail biting often runs in families.

Why do you like biting your nails?

Nail biting, also known as onychophagia or nail biting, refers to the behavior of biting nails repeatedly. Nail biting is a common bad habit in children, which is more common in children aged 3 to 6 years old and can affect both boys and girls. For most children, the nail biting behavior will disappear on its own as they grow older, but for a few stubborn ones it may continue into adulthood. This phenomenon is often related to mental stress. Children are particularly prone to stress when their pace of life changes, such as when they go to kindergarten or school. It is also easy to induce this disease when they are sick. Some children develop this disease because they imitate others. Children with introverted, sensitive, anxious personality traits are prone to this disease. The cause of some children is unknown.

The child bites his nails repeatedly. In mild cases, children only bite their nails, but in severe cases, every nail may be bitten, and even the skin around the nails may be damaged. A few children also bite their toenails. Some children often have other behavioral problems, such as sleep disorders, hyperactivity, anxiety, nervousness, tic disorders, finger sucking, nose picking, etc. Those with persistent symptoms may also bite their nails at night.

3. Correction Method

1. General treatment

Parents should first realize that this is a disease and simply resorting to beating, scolding or punishment is not only unhelpful, but will make the condition worse. Secondly, we should actively look for factors that cause tension and anxiety, and promptly improve children’s living environment and cultivate healthy living habits. In addition, children's nails should be trimmed regularly to prevent nail infection and cuticle damage.

2. Psychotherapy

The main methods used are behavioral restrictions and positive guidance. The so-called behavioral restriction means that when a child bites his nails, parents should patiently teach him to slowly move his fingers away from his mouth, and express approval with a smile, nod or praising tone, and use a meaningful thing or toy to distract the child's attention. Positive guidance is to explain the reasons clearly to the older children who cooperate, so that they realize that nail biting is a behavioral deviation and the harm of nail biting, which can be completely corrected through their own efforts. At the same time, children are encouraged to participate in more group activities and outdoor exercises to develop their potential and promote healthy physical and mental development. The treatment of nail biting habit will not be effective overnight, and the correction process takes a long time. Therefore, parents must not only have confidence in themselves, but also strengthen the confidence of their children. By combining parental supervision with child self-supervision, the behavioral deviation of nail biting can be eliminated as long as it is persisted for a period of time.

If a child likes to bite his nails, he must be corrected, otherwise it will have a very bad impact on the child's physical health over time. As a parent, you must be careful, but you can't be too anxious and take extreme measures to scare the child. You must take the correct approach and use scientific correction methods to help children gradually get rid of this bad habit. You must have enough patience.