Define Paediatric Problems and Nutritional Management?
The process of accepting and digesting food in adequate amounts to meet nutrition needs is termed as feeding. Certain groups of children with different types of medical conditions may have feeding difficulties for example infants/children with cardiopulmonary, genetic or metabolic disorder may have poor intake and may lead to slower weight gain. Other conditions like various neurological conditions such as cerebral palsy, structural abnormality or brain injury may affect the motor or swallowing reflex. The first step in treatment is to assess the child's feeding disorder. This requires a multidisciplinary team who need to diagnose assess and develop appropriate treatment plan. In the following sub-section, we shall learn about a few common paediatric problems and their nutritional management. These problems include congenital heart disease, low birth weight/preterm, lactose intolerance and celiac disease. We begin with congenital heart disease.