What to do if your child suffers from anorexia

Many times, children always don’t like to eat, and parents sometimes think that their children have anorexia and are not getting enough nutrition, and they worry that this will affect their children’s healthy growth and development. Anorexia is also common in pediatrics, but sometimes parents cannot tell whether their children are suffering from anorexia.

Anorexia is a common complaint in pediatrics. Find out whether it is indeed anorexia. Some parents demand too much from their children to eat, and sometimes the children's appetite changes greatly or they are picky eaters, which may be mistaken for anorexia. In-depth understanding is required through medical history, physical examination and necessary laboratory tests to rule out digestive system diseases and systemic diseases that affect the digestive tract. Ask the child about his/her family and school environment to see if there are any factors that affect his/her eating habits.

1. First take the child to the pediatrics or gastroenterology department of a regular hospital for a comprehensive and detailed examination to rule out chronic diseases that can cause anorexia, and to rule out iron and zinc deficiency. If anorexia is caused by a primary disease, the primary disease should be treated actively.

2. Eat regularly, take meals on time, and ensure food hygiene; lead a regular life, get enough sleep, and have regular bowel movements; have comprehensive nutrition, eat more whole grains, fruits and vegetables; eat less snacks and sweets, and drink less beverages.

3. Improve the eating environment so that children can concentrate on eating and keep a good mood.

4. Parents should avoid behaviors such as "chasing and feeding" and paying too much attention to their children's eating. When a child deliberately refuses to eat, parents should not indulge him/her. If he/she skips one or two meals, parents should not worry, as this means that the energy intake of the child is sufficient and the child will naturally ask to eat after a certain period of time. Parents should never use meeting the child's demands as a condition for getting the child to eat.

5. Strengthen physical exercise.

6. Don’t take medicine blindly. You can take Chinese and Western medicine to regulate the spleen and stomach and promote digestion and absorption. Generally speaking, if a child doesn't like to eat, the first thing parents should do is to find out the reason why the child doesn't like to eat. It may be poor digestion or the parents feed the child too much, instead of hastily judging that the child has anorexia. If you really don't know the reason, you can take the child to the hospital for a thorough check-up.