Why do children bite their nails?

I believe many parents have seen their children biting their nails sometimes. Although we always think that it is nothing, if the child always does this, it will make us feel worried. So why do children love to bite their nails so much? What is going on? Let me introduce it to you today.

Children's habit of biting nails should be corrected early

It is a common phenomenon for children to bite their nails, and many people have experienced biting their nails when they were young. Therefore, some young parents often do not care about their children's nail biting habit. In fact, nail biting is a bad habit that is harmful to the healthy growth of children.

Doctors say that human hands have the most contact with the outside world, especially children, who out of curiosity always like to touch here, scratch there, and even crawl on the ground. There will be a large number of bacteria, viruses and other pathogenic microorganisms in the nail crevices and on the fingertips. The nail crevices are a favorable place for bacterial growth, and insect eggs can survive in the nail crevices for many days. When children bite their nails, they will undoubtedly unknowingly bring a large number of germs into their mouths and bodies, causing oral or dental infections. In severe cases, they may also cause gastrointestinal infectious diseases such as bacillary dysentery, or intestinal parasitic diseases such as ascariasis and pinworm disease.

Frequent nail biting can also cause damage to children's teeth, resulting in uneven tooth alignment, such as protruding teeth and chipped front teeth, affecting the child's appearance. Nail biting may also cause nail deformity, damage the nail bed, cause bleeding or infection, damage the nail plate, shorten the nail plate, make the edges uneven, make the nail plate surface rough, and lose its original luster. If the nail groove is invaded, it will cause paronychia.

It is reported that many children in China currently have high levels of lead in their bodies. In addition to atmospheric lead pollution, colored plastic products such as children's toys, food packaging and school supplies have high lead content. When children play with these toys, their hands will be contaminated with lead, and when they bite their nails they will ingest the lead into their bodies. Therefore, correcting the bad habit of biting nails can help reduce children's lead intake to a certain extent.

When children bite their nails, it sometimes reflects a psychological emotion, such as tension, depression, frustration, inferiority complex, hostility and other emotional states. The root cause may be lack of attention or lack of security. Some children, due to biting their nails, are often criticized and scolded by teachers and parents, which in turn will cause them to feel nervous and anxious, which becomes a secondary mental stimulation.

The above is an introduction to why children love to bite their nails. Parents must correct this problem of their children in time after discovering it, and ensure that their children’s hands are clean every day. If children’s hands are not clean, biting their nails will bring bacteria into their stomachs.