health

Disorders involving other bodily systems, such as the cardiovascular (heart
and blood), endocrine (relating to hormones), and central nervous system
(including the brain), also may interfere with food intake or nutrition and
have an adverse effect on a child’s growth and development. For instance,
some nervous system disorders, such as cerebral palsy or meningitis, can
cause swallowing problems. In hypothyroidism (hi-po-THY-roid-izm),
symptoms may include choking and a large, protruding tongue, which
can make feeding difficult. In this condition, which sometimes occurs in
infants and children, a hormone-producing gland called the thyroid gland
does not produce a sufficient amount of certain important hormones.
Many other examples exist. Some diseases do not cause feeding problems
but affect the body’s ability to break down or use the nutrients that have
already made their way into the stomach and small intestine.
In addition, some children have digestive systems that work fine but
have other medical disorders that can affect their feeding behaviors. An
example is pica. In this condition, children eat inappropriate items over a
period lasting a month or more. For instance, a child who is old enough
to know better, may eat dirt, paper, chalk, or other non-food items, or
large amounts of foods, such as flour or salt, that are typically used as
ingredients rather than eaten right out of the box or bag. Medical experts
are unsure what causes pica, but some believe it may be caused by an iron
deficiency, a psychological or developmental problem, or malnutrition.
To treat pica, experts typically recommend that parents work with their
doctor, in addition to a psychologist and social worker.

A Mother’s Role

Breast milk is very important to the growth and development of healthy
babies. It not only provides them with all the nutrients they need to thrive
but also helps to protect them from illness because it transfers diseasefighting
antibodies* from the mother to the baby. In some cases, however,
infants may not take in adequate nutrition because they do not receive
enough milk from their mothers. This can happen for several reasons.
One reason is mastitis (mas-TITE-is), which is an inflammation (and
sometimes an infection) of the breast tissue that can cause it to redden,
swell, and become painful. Although mastitis usually only affects one
breast, it still may cause women to cut back on or stop breastfeeding their
babies. In the United States, mastitis affects about 10 percent of breastfeeding
women. Another quite common problem may also occur. About
two to five days after women give birth, their breasts normally swell as
they begin to produce milk for the nursing baby. Sometimes, the breasts
become very swollen, hard, and painful. The mother may also develop
a fever. This condition, called engorgement, may happen if the baby is
not nursing frequently enough or is not drinking enough when nursing.
When breasts are engorged, the baby may have a difficult time breastfeeding,
and even if the baby is able to breastfeed, engorgement may cause
the breasts to stop producing as much milk. Women can work with their
physicians to help prevent both mastitis and engorgement and to treat
these conditions should they occur.
While the majority of women produce enough milk for their babies,
occasionally certain mothers do not. This may result because the woman
does not feed her baby often enough (or alternately does not frequently
enough use a breast pump to remove the milk, which will be fed to the
baby later by bottle). Infrequent feeding can trigger the breast to slow its
milk production. Low breast milk production can also stem from other
factors. For instance, a mother who is taking certain drugs or herbal supplements
or is a cigarette smoker may not make enough milk. Mothers
with this problem should talk to a medical professional, who may be able
to help them boost their milk production.