Nutrition for children with diarrhea

During diarrhea, your baby should eat soft foods such as thin white rice porridge, carrot and lean meat porridge, stewed carrots, chicken soup, and stewed potatoes.

According to Dr. Tran Thi Minh Nguyet, diarrhea is a condition of having loose or watery stools more than 3 times a day. The disease often occurs in children, especially between 6 months and 2 years old. It is divided into 2 types: One is tAcute diarrhea occurs suddenly and lasts no more than 14 days (usually less than 7 days); Second, diarrhea lasts more than 2 weeks.

Children with diarrhea often suffer from malnutrition, which can lead to death due to the loss of large amounts of water and salt from the body. To help children recover quickly from diarrhea and avoid malnutrition, it is necessary to feed them fully, as soon as possible when they want to eat.

Children with diarrhea should be fed soft, pureed foods. Photo: News.

In treating diarrhea, the most important thing is to prevent dehydration byDrink more water than usual with boiled water that has been cooled, ORS (oresol) or food solutions such as porridge, salted porridge water, roasted rice water, rice water...Amount to drink after each bowel movement:Children under 2 years old from 50 to 100 ml.From 2 to 10 years old drink from 100 to 200 ml.10 years and older and adults take as needed.

How to prepare the solution used to treat diarrhea:

- ORS solution: Wash your hands with soap and clean water before mixing. Pour the powder packet into a clean water bottle or kettle. Measure one liter of clean water (or the appropriate amount of water for each type of packet used), preferably boiled and cooled water, if not available, use the cleanest water. Pour the water into the container and shake well until the powder is completely dissolved. Cover the bottle and let the child drink within 24 hours. Discard the mixed solution after 24 hours and mix a new solution.

- Salty rice water: use a handful of rice, a pinch of salt and 6 bowls of clean water, then boil until soft, filter through a sieve, and give the water to the child to drink gradually.

- Salted roasted rice water: 50g of rice (a handful) roasted until golden brown, add 6 bowls of water and cook until soft, filter through a sieve, add a teaspoon of salt and let the child drink gradually.

- Banana and sapodilla juice: Blend or mash 5 bananas or sapodilla with one liter of cooled boiled water and one level teaspoon of salt, and let the child drink gradually.

- Salted carrot soup: 500g carrots, 1 level teaspoon of salt, 8 teaspoons of sugar. Cook carrots until soft, rub through a sieve or put in a blender until soft, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, boil again, let the child drink gradually.

Foods recommended for children with diarrhea are rice (rice flour), potatoes, lean chicken, lean pork, soy milk, cooking oil, carrots, sapodilla, and bananas.

Infants under 6 months of age who are breastfeeding should continue to breastfeed normally and increase the number of feedings.Children over 6 months old, in addition to breast milk, need to be fed many times and in small amounts with nutritious foods such as meat, eggs, fish, milk, etc. Note: Add a little oil and fat to increase the energy of the portion.

Food for children with diarrhea must be soft, well-cooked, and thinner than usual. It should be fed immediately after cooking to ensure hygiene and reduce the risk of secondary infection. If you have to feed your child pre-cooked food, reheat it before feeding. Give your child more ripe fruit or ripe fruit juice such as bananas, oranges, lemons, mangoes, papayas, etc. to increase potassium. Do not use industrial soft drinks because they can increase diarrhea.

During this time, you should avoid giving your baby foods that are high in fiber.indigestibleor low in nutrients such as raw vegetables, whole grain starches (corn, beans...).Avoid foods high in sugar as this can make diarrhea worse.

Parents should encourage their children to eat as much as possible. Young children should be fed six times a day or more.After diarrhea has cleared, to help the child recover quickly and avoid malnutrition, give the child an extra meal each day for two weeks. For children with persistent diarrhea, give the child an extra meal each day for at least one month.

According to VNE