Weight Loss In Children: Symptoms, Causes And Treatment
Parents tend to worry when their child loses weight and they begin to wonder if the child may be malnourished. But to understand a child’s weight loss, parents must first be able to distinguish between a normal weight and a pathological decrease.
Weight loss in children: Is it a real danger or is it the parents who are exaggerating?
Weight loss in children may indicate some health problems that are primarily related to the digestive system. Some conditions are not due to a child’s diet, but to poor absorption of nutrients and result in weight loss.
One way to confirm your suspicions about your child’s weight loss is to compare his or her current weight with the weight he or she had at his or her last visit to the child care center. A sudden decrease in more than 10% of a child’s previous weight or BMI (which depends on the child’s weight and height) may be an indication of an underlying problem.
As children grow, they should gain weight (except for those children who suffer from obesity, who may like to stand still for a while for the sake of health). Therefore, if you can see a significant reduction in the baby’s weight, whether it is sudden or progressive, it is something that requires a medical examination.
Common causes of weight loss in children
The reasons why children lose weight are as different and varied as they are for adults. The weight loss can either be pathological or due to normal circumstances.
Here are the most common causes of weight loss in children:
Pathological causes
- Cancer
- Hyperthyroidism
- Anemia (usually caused by poor absorption of nutrients)
- Diabetes (mainly when undetected)
- Gluten intolerance (may cause children to avoid certain foods that give them discomfort)
- Gastrointestinal problems (including bacterial infections and parasites)
Psychological causes
- Anorexia and bulimia
- Intense stress
- Acute depression (may be due to loss of a family member)
Other reasons
- Food poisoning
- A surgical procedure
- Drug abuse
- Side effect of another medicine that the child is taking
To find out the cause, and thus how the weight loss can be treated, you should contact his or her doctor. However, there are some guidelines you can follow to facilitate treatment.
Depression, anxiety or stress can lead to weight loss
Stress, anxiety or depression can, for example, stem from the loss of a beloved family member. They may also be based on past or ongoing traumatic events or bullying at school.
If the source of the depression or stress is unknown to the parents, it may be due to an event that happened (or is still happening) outside the home. Therefore, it is important for parents to be able to ask the right questions and talk to the child to find out the reason for the child’s stress or depression.
If you know the trigger and it is unavoidable, it is important to seek the help of a therapist. Proper treatment can also prevent stress from giving rise to other sequelae such as anxiety and phobias.
Eating disorders
In these cases, parents need to act a little more discreetly to detect them. These disorders can also be seen in children before they reach adolescence. Over 90% of eating disorders occur predominantly in women.
Unlike post-traumatic stress disorder, where one can ask questions that make it possible to identify the psychotherapeutic solutions, the majority of patients with eating disorders deny their problems.
It is important to always consult a specialist who can evaluate your child if he or she is losing weight. Depending on the circumstances, the specialist will draw up a plan to solve the problem.
