close window
Housecall Archives
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
close window
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffTo help prevent constipation in children:
- Offer your child high-fiber foods. Include in your child's diet high-fiber foods, such as fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole-grain cereals and breads. If your child isn't used to a high-fiber diet, start by adding just several grams of fiber a day to prevent gas and bloating.
- Encourage your child to drink plenty of fluids. Water is often the best bet.
- Promote physical activity. Regular physical activity helps stimulate normal bowel function.
- Create a toilet routine. Regularly set aside time after meals for your child to use the toilet. If necessary, provide a footstool so that your child is comfortable sitting on the toilet and has enough leverage to release a stool.
- Remind your child to heed nature's call. Some children get so wrapped up in the activity at hand that they ignore the urge to have a bowel movement. Postponing the event can lead to problems in the long run, however.
- Review medications. If your child is taking a medication that causes constipation, ask his or her doctor about other options.
References
- Constipation in children. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merckmanuals.com/professional/print/sec20/ch283/ch283f.html. Accessed July 15, 2011.
- Kay M, et al. Common gastrointestinal problems in pediatric patients. American College of Gastroenterology. http://www.acg.gi.org/patients/gihealth/pdf/pediatric.pdf. Accessed July 15, 2011.
- Constipation in children. National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse. http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/constipationchild/index.htm. Accessed July 15, 2011.
- Ferry GD. Treatment of chronic functional constipation and fecal incontinence in infants and children. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 15, 2011.
- Ferry GD. Constipation in children: Etiology and diagnosis. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed July 15, 2011.
- Pijpers MA, et al. Currently recommended treatments of childhood constipation are not evidence based: A systematic literature review on the effect of laxative treatment and dietary measures. Archives of Diseases In Childhood. 2009;94:117.
- Blackmer AB, et al. Constipation in the pediatric patient: An overview and pharmacologic considerations. Journal of Pediatric Health Care. 2010;24:385.
- Culbert TP, et al. Integrative approaches to childhood constipation and encopresis. The Pediatrics Clinics of North America. 2007;54:927.
- Walia R, et al. Recent advances in chronic constipation. Current Opinion in Pediatrics. 2009;21:661.
Find Mayo Clinic on