In the age of electronic gadgets and fast food, the problem of obesity worries every third inhabitant of the planet. It is clear that an inactive lifestyle and poor nutrition are the main factors in the development of this condition in an adult. But why, more and more, according to medical statistics, are cases of significant excess body weight in children under the age of one year? What are the reasons for such a pathology? How is obesity (paratrophy) treated in children? The answers to these questions are in the article.
What is paratrophy?
Often, the condition of the babies described above is called obesity. But from the point of view of medicine, such a statement is incorrect. Indeed, paratrophy is an overweight disease. But in a child of the first year of life, this condition has certain features that it is important for specialists to consider when diagnosing and developing a treatment regimen for a small patient. So, the doctor can diagnose paratrophy if the child’s body weight exceeds 10% of the generally accepted norm for a specific age period.
Most often, this condition is diagnosed using measurements and laboratory methods at the age of 3-5 months. At six months, paratrophy in children has already expressed symptoms. A photo of a child suffering from such a pathology is presented below.
Types of Paratrophy
In medicine, two types of such a condition are distinguished.
The first is a simple obesity that arose as a result of overfeeding a baby with proteins. The difficulty in preventing and treating such a disease is that adults usually seek medical help too late. This is due to the fact that outwardly in the initial stages of development of paratrophy, the child looks like a completely healthy "well-fed hero". Parents of such babies can’t get enough of the crumb’s excellent appetite and calm disposition (which is actually inactive due to excess body weight). But without changing the diet, the condition of the child will gradually deteriorate. In this case, concomitant diseases may appear, in particular, violations of the gastrointestinal tract often develop, the blood formula worsens, and the load on the liver and kidneys increases. Without the necessary treatment, such a disease progresses rapidly, contributing to the formation of acidosis, rickets, anemia, and allergies.
The second type is carbohydrate overfeeding. It arises as a result of an excess in the child’s diet of cereals, juices, cookies. In this condition, there is a significant decrease in skin turgor, swelling, pallor and "marbling" of the skin. The baby has frequent loose stools and a predisposition to vomiting. This type of paratrophy leads to impaired absorption of beneficial substances, and, therefore, causes hypovitaminosis, hypocalcemia, rickets.
Severity of disease
There are three degrees of paratrophy in children:
- the first is diagnosed if the child has from 10 to 20% of excess body weight;
- with the second excess weight is 25-35%;
- the third is characterized by indicators of 40-50%.
The difference in the degrees of paratrophy in children is manifested in external signs. So, in infants, at the initial stage of the disease, fat folds are observed in the thighs and chest. Whereas in the second and third degrees of paratrophy, excess weight is distributed throughout the body. At the same time, having measured the circumference of the abdomen and chest of the child, it can be noted that the first indicator by 3-5 centimeters will exceed the second.
Causes of Paratrophy
Why do young children have problems with being overweight? The main reason is malnutrition. It is important to note that in this case, not only the baby’s diet, but also his mother’s, is important.
So, paratrophy of children under one year of age is usually associated with a woman not following the diet during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The use of a future mother in a large number of flour products, sweet, fatty foods often leads to overweight of the child even in the period of intrauterine development. In addition, children with a large body weight at birth are prone to rapid weight gain in the future (from 1 to 1.5 kg per month).
The introduction of complementary foods or the transition to artificial feeding can lead to an aggravation of the problem. So, frequent feeding, exceeding recommended volumes, improper choice of mixtures are factors that provoke the development of a disease such as paratrophy in children of the first year of life.
Also, the cause of the pathological condition may be a violation of the regime of the day of the child. In particular, limiting the activity of the baby, infrequent walks in the fresh air can cause excess weight gain.
In rare cases, paratrophy of children under one year of age is the result of various diseases associated with metabolic disorders in the body.
What is dangerous?
The popular belief that if a child is well-fed is healthy, is fundamentally wrong. Paratrophy in young children is a difficult condition in terms of treatment and a health hazard. Despite the fact that in most cases there are no obvious signs of deterioration of well-being in a child, such a disease causes a number of concomitant problems. First of all, violations of the gastrointestinal tract occur, which, in turn, leads to a deterioration in the absorption of beneficial substances. As a result, hypovitaminosis, anemia, acidosis develops. The lack of substances necessary for growth and development is the trigger for the formation of rickets. In addition, as a result of metabolic disorders in the body, immunity is reduced.
The diagnosis and treatment of paratrophy in children is also complicated by the fact that adults most often do not consider an overweight baby to be a symptom of a serious illness, grandmothers do not get tired of admiring a well-fed rosy-cheeked granddaughter. Therefore, parents often do not make efforts to eliminate the causes that led to the development of such a condition, violate the doctor’s recommendations, refuse additional examination. These factors exacerbate the existing problem, thereby complicating its solution in the future.
Symptoms of the disease
A pronounced symptom of this condition is the characteristic physique of the child:
- fat folds on the arms, legs, chin;
- enlarged abdomen compared to the chest;
- short neck.
In addition, signs of paratrophy are:
- decreased muscle tone;
- loss of elasticity of the skin;
- pallor, dry skin;
- impaired stool, abdominal pain;
- immobility, lethargy;
- the presence of diaper rash in the skin folds;
- sleep disturbance;
- tendency to allergic reactions;
- rickets.
Thus, paratrophy in young children has pronounced symptoms. The photo below shows signs of the disease, such as the appearance of excess body fat and the formation of skin folds.
Diagnostics
The diagnosis of paratrophy can be made by the pediatrician based on the results of measurements of the child and their correlation with the established standards.
In addition, a blood test is prescribed to confirm the disease, as well as to identify concomitant disorders. Important indicators for assessing the condition of the baby are the level of insulin, cholesterol, hemoglobin, vitamins B 5 and B 12 , folic acid, iron.
Which specialists should I contact?
During the first year of life, the baby should be regularly observed by a pediatrician. If this condition is met, the doctor has the opportunity to identify the problem in a timely manner and decide on the need to refer the patient to narrow specialists. So, depending on the condition of the child, you may need to consult an allergist, cardiologist, endocrinologist, immunologist.
Disease treatment
The doctor confirmed the presence of the disease, how to cope with this condition? Paratrophy in young children requires long-term treatment. First of all, an individual diet is developed: the volume of food and the frequency of feeding are reduced. If the baby is breastfed, then the mother needs to reconsider her diet. A woman will need to reduce the intake of fatty, sugary foods, "empty" carbohydrates.
With artificial feeding, pediatricians recommend the use of acidophilus mixtures. So, for children up to six months, such as "Baby", "Rostock-1" are suitable. Babies from 6 to 12 months should choose "Acidolac", "Beefilok".
You can finish babies with mineral water without gas or a carotene mixture.
Massage
With paratrophy, a special massage is recommended, which can be performed by a patronage nurse at home. Such a procedure will improve blood flow, help remove excess fluid from the body, and accelerate metabolic processes. Sessions should be carried out daily for 10-15 minutes.
Physiotherapy
It is known that to reduce weight, you need to increase physical activity. Therefore, special gymnastics, breathing exercises, regular walks in the fresh air, outdoor games will speed up the treatment process, improve results and simply bring a lot of fun to the baby.
Do I need medication?
With paratrophy, the pediatrician can prescribe a vitamin complex, which is necessary for a particular type of disease. You may also need medications designed to treat allergies, rickets, anemia.
Disease prevention
Paratrophy in children is treated for a long time. Therefore, one should remember about preventing the development of such a condition in a baby. Care should be taken during pregnancy: eating a woman’s healthy diet will significantly reduce the likelihood of overweight problems in the baby. After birth, the crumbs are also important to monitor his diet.
Walking in the fresh air should not be neglected. Do not forget about daily massage, as well as gymnastics. It is useful not only to prevent paratrophy, but also to increase immunity, relieve muscle tone, and develop the respiratory system of the child is swimming. A grown up baby should be interested in outdoor games, physical exercises.
It is important to observe the rest regimen, a good sleep is an important condition for maintaining and strengthening the health of a growing organism.
Interestingly, the described prophylactic methods will also help prevent a disease associated with weight loss. Hypotrophy and paratrophy in children are conditions that arise as a result of malnutrition. Therefore, the use of wholesome food and an active lifestyle are key to the health of both an adult and a child.
Paratrophy in children has become an acute problem in all developed countries of the world. Being overweight leads to serious health problems at an older age, in particular, to obesity. Moreover, the more neglected the disease, the more difficult it can be adjusted. Among other things, the habits vaccinated from childhood lead to a deterioration in the health status of an overweight patient and the development of concomitant pathologies. At the same time, compliance with the elementary rules of diet and mobility can reduce the risk of paratrophy to almost zero. Therefore, young parents should pay special attention to these factors and take care of the health of their crumbs even before his birth.