Poor digestion – the root cause for anorexia and slow weight gain in children

Poor digestion is a common condition, especially in infants and children under 5 years old. Poor digestion may cause several uncomfortable symptoms for children, affecting their health, growth and development.

1.  What is poor digestion

Digestion is the process of breaking down food molecules into easily absorbed nutrients, which nourish cells and sustain the body’s life. This process begins in the mouth, where food is crushed, mixed with saliva, and then moves to the stomach and intestines. Here, enzymes and digestive juices continue to break down food, creating essential nutrients. These substances are transported through the blood to muscles, tissues, and other organs to build, develop, and maintain a healthy body. 

When the digestive system is working effectively, the process of breaking down food goes smoothly, helping the body to fully absorb the necessary nutrients. However, if some parts of the digestive system are malfunctioning, the metabolism of food can slow down, leading to poor digestion. At that time, although the food contains all the necessary nutrients, the child’s body cannot absorb them all, leading to nutritional deficiencies, poor health, weak immune system and children are susceptible to diseases.

Poor digestion may affect a child’s development as well as cause associated illnesses

Below are some signs of poor digestion in children:

– Diarrhea: is a condition in which children have loose, watery stools, sometimes with undigested food particles, loose stools, and a fishy smell. Children are considered to have diarrhea when their stools contain more water than normal, or when they have more than 3 bowel movements per day. Every year, around 1.5 – 2 million children under 5 years old die from this disease worldwide.

– Constipation: This is one of the common “diseases”, signaling that the child’s digestive system is not healthy due to a diet lacking in fiber and water. Constipation is when the child has difficulty in defecating with symptoms: infrequent defecation (less than 3 times/week) or pain and discomfort while defecating. This condition, if prolonged, will cause some serious complications, affecting the child’s psychology and health.

– Digestive disorders: the cause of this condition is that the child’s digestive system is attacked by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, but the beneficial bacteria in the intestines are not strong enough to protect the child from pathogens. Children with digestive disorders will have some unusual symptoms such as: diarrhea, bloating, indigestion, nausea, dull abdominal pain or intermittent pain…

2. Consequences of poor digestion in children

Poor digestion not only causes children to gain weight slowly or lose weight, but also causes many other symptoms such as fatigue, lethargy, loss of appetite, etc. In some serious cases, children may have a weakened immune system or even malnutrition. This condition, if prolonged, will have serious consequences for children’s health such as:

– Poor absorption: children do not gain weight or grow taller despite eating nutritious foods for a long time. Children may even lose weight and become malnourished because their bodies cannot fully absorb nutrients from the digestive system into the blood.

– Children with poor appetite: children lack the desire to eat and do not absorb enough food according to their body’s needs. Poor appetite accompanied by slow weight gain leads to poor underdevelopment physically in children. The most obvious consequence is that children are stunted, shorter, and lighter than their peers. This condition is especially serious for children between the ages of 1-3. As this is the period of rapid development for children and they need to be provided with the most essential nutrients. In addition, when children  lack essential nutrients and are stunted, their immunity will decrease. At this time, the child’s body is not strong enough to fight off the attack of bacteria and viruses that cause disease and create favorable conditions for them to enter the body. More dangerously, for children with stunted growth, the duration of illness will also be longer than normal. 

– The child’s brain is affected: the child shows signs of slowness, lethargy, and less flexibility than other children for a period of time. Poor digestion limits the child’s ability to absorb important nutrients such as DHA, ARA, etc., thereby affecting the overall brain development process. Therefore, the child’s ability to communicate socially, handle situations, and reflexes will also be slower, and the ability to learn and absorb knowledge will also be significantly affected. Not only that, due to eating less and lacking micronutrients, children can also suffer from a number of diseases such as: pale mucous membranes due to iron deficiency anemia, dry eyes due to vitamin A deficiency, and rickets due to calcium deficiency…

Poor digestion is the leading cause of anorexia in children

3. Methods to improve digestion for better eating and quick growth of children

Children with poor appetite and slow growth are the nightmare of most families. This situation, if prolonged, causes parents to be stressed and feel tired in the process of raising their children. For improvement, below are some methods for parents to help their children eat well and grow quickly:

– First, parents need to build a suitable, scientific and healthy diet for their children, by ensuring the following factors: providing adequate nutrient groups, dividing meals reasonably, while supplementing energy and limiting unhealthy foods such as snacks, soft drinks, and carbonated drinks. Children’s diets need to provide all essential nutrients such as protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals. Parents should consult a nutritionist to build a menu suitable for their children’s age and needs. Along with that, parents should divide into 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 main meals, this allows children to digest and absorb food more easily.

Create a scientific diet for children by balancing nutrient groups in the menu

– Second, parents can improve their children’s digestive system by supplementing good micronutrients such as fiber, vitamins, minerals, etc. These nutrients help maintain a healthy digestive system, support the body’s ability to process food, absorb nutrients and eliminate waste effectively. Children with a good digestive system are able to metabolize food well, get hungry quickly and increase their appetite, and eat well. Parents can supplement micronutrients for their children through common foods such as green vegetables, fruits, and berries… 

– In addition, adding beneficial bacteria to the child’s intestines is also of great significance. Beneficial bacteria are found in several fermented products such as cheese, yogurt, etc., allowing the body to digest food and effectively absorb nutrients from food, while inhibiting harmful bacteria. In addition to the commonly known Probiotics, Postbiotics – a by-product created during the fermentation process of Probiotics, is now being focused on by scientists and applied to improve the digestive system of children. Unlike Probiotics which include active living microorganisms, Postbiotics is “a mixture of inactivated microorganisms and their components that provide health benefits to the host”. Postbiotics with good stability help maintain the balance of microbiota (a large collection of microorganisms living in symbiosis in the human body), nourish intestinal cells to avoid digestive disorders and strengthen the natural immune system.

In order to provide a good solution for the digestive system in children, Nutricare scientists and the Nutricare Medical Nutrition Institute – USA (NMNI-USA) have launched the new Metacare Opti nutritional product line. The pioneering product features breakthrough Postbiotic beneficial bacteria technology, supplementing up to 30 billion gut-friendly bacteria (Postbiotic LBiome and Postbiotic L. Lactis probiotics system) to protect children’s intestines from the invasion of pathogens, restore the natural balance of intestinal microflora and promote the growth of beneficial bacteria.

Metacare Opti adds HMO combined with fiber, enables healthy digestion for, prevents constipation, and supports intestinal microflora balance. 24-hour colostrum from the US in the product also allows resistance increase. In addition, for children to develop comprehensively, the product provides up to 60 essential nutrients with easily absorbed Whey Protein, Lysine, and Zinc to help increase energy metabolism and gain weight effectively. In addition, the trio of nutrients Calcium, K2, D3 support children to develop outstanding height. With only 2 glasses of standard powdered milk or 3 cartons of ready-to-drink milk every day, Metacare Opti supports minimization of digestive diseases risks, enhances natural immunity, allowing children to gain weight and grow taller comprehensively.

– Finally, parents should regularly let their children exercise, play sports. In children, regular exercise helps children release energy in their body. When energy is used up, children need to eat and drink to supplement the missing energy. In a state of craving or hunger, children eat well and eat more. If the child is young, parents should regularly massage the child. This helps the child’s digestive system work better, contributing to limiting digestive diseases, supporting children to be healthy and grow well.

Energy in the baby’s body is quickly consumed during physical games

Conclusion: Poor digestion in children is a fairly common condition and is the root cause of anorexia and slow development in children. Parents need to pay attention to a reasonable nutritional diet for their children. Having a reasonable diet, supplementing adequate micronutrients and probiotics and combining proper exercise support the digestive system improvement so that children can develop comprehensively.