appetite series part 1

appetite series: topic 1, post 1
1.why do a parent feel his/her child has no appetite?
2why does a mother feel her milk is not enough for baby?
3.why does a parent feel... why his/her child is not growing well?
will be upcoming topics.

1.1 Today lets understand why does a parent feel his /her child has no appetite.

Most often, feeling of child not having appetite is a subjective/personal interpretation by parent or neighbourhood by observing look behaviour or feeding or diet pattern of child, most parents expect their child to eat heavily on nutritious standard and bland diets...like the perception - that heavy (healthy) diet will keep you strong and protect from diseases.
so its not unusual to see parents forcing lots of vegetables fruits , 2 glass of milk a day and two chapati/breads three times a day.
when they donot find their child eating as per their expectations, parents feel the child is not having appetite.
Such a situation may also be because:
1.parents feeling of child not growing well (cause not found)
2.child really not growing well
3.child likes selective food/ diet which is not provided
4.child has problem in digestion/ excretion like say indigestion, constipation
5.infections mainly due to throat / tonsil and gut infections, TB
nutritional deficiencies
6. real lack of appetite

Of this, the last one is really rare and in almost all cases there is no clear need for appetite inducing medicines like cyproheptadine and may need serious evaluations.
1. parents feeling child not growing well: this is often a comparative interpretation, but if the doctor has checked weight and height of child and if its appropriate and if there is no illness often most doctors will advice on exercise, and balanced diet to maintain same growth pattern. i do appreciate parents concern,because these are the cases where the hidden reasons are not obvious and often after detailed history, a doctor may be able to find a reason for parents perceptions and specific treatment is likely to show results by treating the cause.
2. child really not growing well: continued in next post.. pls wait for same.

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