Paratrophy in young children: degrees, treatment

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-01 17:06

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 malnutrition are the main factors in the development of such a condition in an adult. But why, according to medical statistics, are more and more cases of significant excess of body weight in children under the age of one year being recorded? What are the reasons for this pathology? How is obesity (paratrophy) treated in children? The answers to these questions are in the article.

What is paratrophy?

Often, the condition of babies described above is called obesity. But from the point of view of medicine, such a statement is incorrect. Indeed, paratrophy is a disease characterized by excess weight. But in a child of the first year of life, this condition has certain features that are important to take into account for specialists 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 particularage period.

This condition is most often diagnosed by measurements and laboratory methods at the age of 3-5 months. At six months, he has already expressed symptoms of paratrophy in children. A photo of a child suffering from such a pathology is presented below.

Types of paratrophy

In medicine, there are two types of this condition.

The first is simple obesity, which arose as a result of overfeeding the baby with proteins. The difficulty in preventing and treating such a disease is that usually adults seek medical help too late. This is due to the fact that outwardly, at the initial stages of the development of paratrophy, the child looks like a completely he althy “well-fed hero”. Parents of such babies cannot get enough of the crumbs' excellent appetite and calm disposition (which is actually inactivity resulting from excess body weight). But without changing the diet, the child's condition will gradually worsen. At the same time, concomitant diseases may appear, in particular, disturbances in the work 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 occurs as a result of an excess of cereals, juices, and cookies in the child's diet. 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 tendency to vomit. This type of paratrophy leads to a violation of the absorption of nutrients, 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 10 to 20% overweight;
• with the second extra weight is 25-35%;
• the third is characterized by indicators of 40-50%.

The difference in the degrees of paratrophy in children is also manifested in external signs. So, in babies at the initial stage of the disease, fat folds are observed in the thighs and chest. Whereas with the second and third degree 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 will exceed the second by 3-5 centimeters.

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, the diet is important not only for the baby himself, but also for his mother.

So, paratrophy of children under one year old is usually associated with non-compliance with the diet of a woman during pregnancy and breastfeeding. The use by the expectant mother of a large number of flour products, sweet, fatty foods often leads to overweight of the child even during fetal development. In addition, children who at birtha large body weight was noted, 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 exacerbate the problem. So, frequent feeding, exceeding the recommended volumes, the wrong choice of mixtures are factors that provoke the development of such a disease as paratrophy in children of the first year of life.

Also, the cause of the pathological condition can be a violation of the child's day regimen. In particular, limiting the activity of the baby, infrequent walks in the fresh air can cause weight gain.

In rare cases, paratrophy of children under one year old is the result of various diseases associated with impaired metabolic processes in the body.

What is dangerous?

The popular belief that if a child is well-fed, then he is he althy, is fundamentally wrong. Paratrophy in young children is a difficult and dangerous condition from the point of view of treatment. Despite the fact that in most cases there are no obvious signs of deterioration in the child's well-being, this disease causes a number of related problems. First of all, there are disturbances in the work of the gastrointestinal tract, which, in turn, leads to a deterioration in the absorption of nutrients. As a result, hypovitaminosis, anemia, and acidosis develop. The lack of substances necessary for growth and development is a trigger for the formation of rickets. In addition, as a result of violations of metabolic processes inthe body's immunity decreases.

Diagnosis and treatment of paratrophy in children is also complicated by the fact that adults most often do not consider the baby's overweight a symptom of a serious illness, grandmothers do not get tired of admiring their well-fed rosy-cheeked granddaughter. Therefore, often parents do not make efforts to eliminate the causes that led to the development of such a condition, violate the doctor's recommendations, and refuse additional examinations. These factors exacerbate the existing problem, making it more difficult to solve in the future.

Symptoms of disease

A pronounced symptom of this condition is the characteristic physique of the child:

• fat folds on arms, legs, chin;
• enlarged belly compared to chest;
• short neck.

In addition, signs of paratrophy are:

• reduced muscle tone;
• loss of skin elasticity;
• pallor, dry skin;
• disturbed stool, abdominal pain;
• lack of mobility, lethargy;
• presence of diaper rash in skin folds;
• sleep disorder;
• prone to allergic reactions;
• rickets.

Thus, has pronounced symptoms of paratrophy in young children. The photo below shows signs of the disease, such as the appearance of excess body fat and the formation of skin folds.

Diagnosis

The diagnosis of "paratrophy" can be made by a pediatrician based on the results of measurementschild and their correlation with established norms.

In addition, to confirm the disease, as well as to identify associated disorders, a blood test is prescribed. Important indicators for assessing the condition of the baby are the level of insulin, cholesterol, hemoglobin, vitamins B₅ 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.

Treatment of disease

The doctor confirmed the presence of the disease, how to deal 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 cut back on fatty, sugary, empty carbs.

When formula-fed, pediatricians recommend using acidophilic mixtures. So, for children up to six months, such as "Baby", "Rostok-1" are suitable. Babies from 6 to 12 months should choose Acidolac, Bifilok.

You can give babies water with mineral water without gas or a carotene mixture.

Massage

For paratrophy, a special massage is recommended, which can be performed by a visiting nurse at home. This procedure will improve blood flow, help remove excess fluid from the body, and speed up metabolic processes. Sessions should be held daily for 10-15 minutes.

Therapeutic exercise

It is known that in order to lose weight, it is necessary 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 pleasure 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, you should remember about the prevention of the development of such a condition in a baby. This should be taken care of even during pregnancy: a woman eating he althy foods will significantly reduce the likelihood of overweight problems in a child. After the birth of the crumbs, it is also important to monitor his diet.

You can't neglect outdoor walks. Do not forget about daily massage, as well as gymnastics. Swimming is useful not only for the prevention of paratrophy, but also for increasing immunity, relieving muscle tone, and developing the child’s respiratory system. A grown-up baby should be interested in outdoor games, physical exercises.

It is also important to observe the rest regimen, good sleep is an important condition for maintaining and strengthening the he alth of a growing organism.

Interestingly, the described prevention methods will also help prevent disease associated with underweight. Hypotrophy and paratrophy in children are conditions that result from malnutrition. Therefore, eating wholesome food and an active lifestyle are the key to he alth, both for adults and children.

Paratrophy in children has become an acute problem in all developed countries of the world. An overweight child leads to serious he alth problems at an older age, in particular, to obesity. Moreover, the more neglected the disease, the more difficult it is to correct. Among other things, habits instilled since childhood lead to a deterioration in the he alth of an overweight patient, the development of comorbidities. 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 he alth of their crumbs before he is born.