Baby anorexia is a difficult problem. However, not everyone knows what to do with anorexic children because this condition occurs for many reasons.
Anorexia in children causes many serious consequences such as malnutrition, delayed development, susceptibility to chronic diseases, poor intellectual thinking compared to peers of the same age… So what should mothers do when their children are lazy? Eat to prevent the above consequences? The following article will provide mothers with 6 ways to help children stop anorexia quickly.
1. What is anorexia?
According to MSc. Doctor. Le Thi Kim Dung, anorexia is a common condition in young children, especially those between the ages of 1 and 6. However, in reality, after 1 year of age, the child’s growth rate will gradually decrease, leading to weight gain. The amount of food the baby needs to eat also decreases. This is called physiological anorexia and at this time the child is still completely normal.
However, anorexia can also stem from other causes, which can negatively affect the child’s physical and intellectual development such as:
– Sick children: cough, sore throat, fever, gastrointestinal disorders…
– Mentality:
Children love to play, leading to being too “busy” to eat.
Children are separated from their mothers or their living environment is changed.
Children are afraid of eating due to being forced to eat for a long time or having had gastrointestinal damage (choking, choking). This is the cause of anorexia that is difficult to treat.
– Improper diet: eating too much junk food, drinking too much milk…
– Anemia and iron deficiency are common causes of children’s anorexia and slow growth.
– Lack of exercise.
The causes can occur at the same time to different degrees in each specific child. Therefore, when you see your baby’s anorexia, you need to calmly handle it and avoid letting the situation get worse.
2. What should I do if my child has anorexia?
Many parents wonder what to do when their child has anorexia because when this condition lasts, the risk of the child becoming malnourished will be very high. Below are some ways to help children stop anorexia from MSc. Doctor. Le Thi Kim Dung:
Let’s make meals fun
Besides eating together with family members, parents should let their children feel the food themselves through touching and peeling (for younger children) and instruct them to use a spoon and fork (for older children). When the baby eats on his own, parents should also applaud and praise to encourage and motivate the child, helping the child enjoy it, and from there the baby will eat better.
Don’t stress your baby
When feeding your baby, parents should absolutely not force it, causing the baby to become stressed and develop a fear of eating. Instead, at each meal, parents should only feed their children small portions. After the baby finishes one portion, parents provide the next portion. At this time, when eating from one small portion to another, children will learn to feel full and not feel stressed.
Pay attention to the time for each meal
For active children, it is difficult for them to sit still during meals. Accordingly, no matter how little the baby eats, parents should only let the meal last about 30 minutes. Thanks to that, the baby not only avoids psychological pressure but also stimulates the child’s ability to self-regulate the amount of food he or she needs to eat.
Gaps between meals
Parents need to design their baby’s mealtimes scientifically, preferably every 4-5 hours because:
If the gap between meals is too close: Your baby will not feel hungry yet.
If the gap between meals is too far or the parents starve the baby: Makes anorexia worse because the baby feels tired.
In particular, children should not be allowed to snack between meals to avoid disturbing their mealtimes.
Don’t use food as a reward
Using snacks as rewards is a mistake many families make when solving the problem “What should I do if my child is anorexic?” because this will make your baby cope with eating. Instead, parents should find other “rewards” to encourage their children to eat, such as playing with them, reading stories to them…
Always be patient with your baby when trying new foods
Helping babies experience new food groups, especially picky eaters, is not easy. One of the tips to solve this problem is for parents to experience it with their children. When the baby sees that his father loves delicious food, he will imitate it.
