Gallstones in children:
Also a question of nutrition

Healthy nutrition is important to us in children. We want a balanced diet that provides children with all the vitamins and minerals needed to stay fit. permanently having a strengthened immune system. We are also aware that nutrition for the future is a cornerstone neither to be overweight nor to be underweight. We do a lot to make sure that the children are as open as possible to new tastes and that they do not reject vegetables, fruits or fish.

However, we are often unaware of how nutrition affects children’s bodies in the long term beyond the mere weight and how important they can be even for the smallest biological processes.

Many a later illness could be prevented by a healthy, balanced diet in childhood

and also a predisposition and thus the risk that diseases such as diabetes erupt as far as possible beyond hesitation.
Many other later health problems could also be positively influenced in childhood, such as gallstones.

What are gallstones?

Gallstones are solid waste products that can form in the gallbladder. Due to a thickening of the bile it comes after some time to small crystalline stones. In most people, these tiny deposits in the bile cause no problems, but they occur more frequently than average and prevent the removal of bile, it comes to severe discomfort and treatment is necessary. Gallstones in children are actually rather unusual. Most of them occur in connection with other diseases, but there is also the possibility to get gallstones already in childhood through a wrong diet and possible, strong obesity in children.

Symptoms of gallstones in children

Gallstones are not always directly noticeable in children. Often they are discovered by mere screening or ultrasound examinations of other organs rather accidentally. Some patients complain of acute pain in the upper abdomen, which can radiate up to over the shoulder and into the right arm.

Typical are: [arrow_list]

Pressure on the stomach
constant feeling of fullness
unpleasant bloating or belching.
Oily or other difficult to digest foods are poorly tolerated
the pain comes right after the meal.

Rarely, more severe complaints, so-called biliary colic can occur. In addition to violent seizures in the middle of the stomach then nausea and sweats are added.

Increasingly gallstones also in children

In recent years, gallstones have become more common in children. In addition to a heritable component, experts also see the essence of the evil in the faulty diet.

The most common cause of gallstones in children or young adults who are otherwise perfectly healthy is a very high-fat and low-fiber diet in the past. By high-fat food, the bile remains much longer than usual in the gallbladder and it comes to a thickening. After a long time and thus a constant repetition of this process, the gallstones form over time.

Of course, high-fiber diets are not always easy on children. Legumes like cabbage, garlic and onions are rarely found in the top 10 kids‘ favorite dishes. But fiber is also important for the prevention of gallstones in children. They stimulate the intestinal activity and also ensure a long satiety.

Home remedies for gallstones

On the Internet, numerous home remedies circulate around gallstones in children drug-free and without the need to treat surgery. Some foods are said to stimulate the production of bile. These include dandelion, sharply or angelica. Peppermint also has a positive effect on bile. These herbs are simply mixed with the children in the food.

In fact, it is questionable whether existing gallstones, which are already causing discomfort, should be treated with home remedies alone. Often the treatment with drugs or a small operation is necessary to get rid of the annoying gallstones. (More information here at netdoktor.de)

A healthy diet – important in every way

Bile is only a small cog in children’s organism. Like all other organs, it benefits from a balanced, healthy diet. The healthy diet in general always forms the foundation for the entire interaction of all other gears of this organism and thus for a good overall development of the children.

As a mother of two children, I deal with all topics relating to everyday life with children at www.kinder-tipps.com. Of course, the weight is always in focus. Even in the womb weight of a baby plays a major role and even after birth, it does not lose importance. But on the contrary. Now the health of our children is above all in the hands of the parents. Google+ | Facebook | Twitter

More articles by Lisa Werner. Lisa Werner’s website.

Dieter Hummel December 19th, 2017 at 23:25

The most common cause of gallstones in children or young adults who are otherwise perfectly healthy is a very low-fat and low-fiber diet in the past.

I think it should be ‘high in fat and low in fiber’. otherwise the next sentence does not fit.

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