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General Introduction:

Health of a child is the most important aspect of worry for the parents; particularly first time parents tend to worry more about health of a newborn baby. Children constitute the age group from birth up to 16 years of age. The age wise classification is as follows:

  • Newborn: Up to first 4weeks after birth
  • Infant: Up to first year
  • Toddler: Up to 2years
  • Pre school child: 3-6years
  • School going child: 6-10(girls) 6-12(boys).

The health of child is greatly influenced by physical and mental well being of mother, especially during pregnancy. Proper nutritious diet and a healthy lifestyle during pregnancy help to build up strength and immunity of child before and after birth and may reduce risk for premature delivery and growth related problems.

The different milestones your child achieves at a particular age, such as-

  • Smile at 6 weeks
  • Sit supported at 6 months
  • Say simple two syllable words like “Mama” at 9-10 months
  • Understand simple commands at 12 months
  • Walk without help at 18 months
  • Dresses herself at 3 years etc. are an indication of your child’s development. All children acquire mental and physical skills in same order, but the rate varies enormously. Delayed milestones, if any, warrant proper medical attention.

All babies should have a physical examination immediately after birth, so that any obvious defects of vision and hearing can be detected early. When a baby reaches age of 4-6weeks, vision and testing should be tested again. You can yourself check your baby’s vision and hearing during first few months. All infants are nearsighted during first few months, but at age of 3 months your baby should be able to follow movements of toy dangling in front about 20cm away, with his/her eyes. Similarly your newborn is sensitive to sound and by 4 months of age, your baby should turn his/her head to look for source of sound. Even a minor problem with eyes/ears may interfere with child development and routine tests during first year of life are important.

Children gain immunity and strength as they grow. Because they are of soft nature and not matured enough, the outlook for diseases in infants and children is very different from that in adults. Some diseases may be common in children and adults but sometimes special diagnostic tests or treatments are required in children. Also the medicines used should not be too strong and dosage adjusted according to the age of child. Sometimes a symptom such as fever, skin rash or loss of appetite, change in quality and intensity of baby’s crying or diarrhea make it clear that your child is ill. At other times, change in your baby’s behavior will indicate that something is wrong, but cause may not be obvious.

Disorders in children:

Common causes:

  1. Low resistance power to disease due to low strength and immunity.
  2. Excess of food that upsets stomach or impurity of breast milk in infants.
  3. Coldness or dampness in air causes variety of diseases in infants and children.
  4. Emergence of tooth is a common cause for change in feeding, sleeping and bowel habits.
  5. Prolonged moisture and other irritants that inflame skin on baby’s buttocks, thighs and genitals leads to diaper rash.
  6. Improper nourishment (malnourished).
  7. Excess of sweet stuff like chocolates, jam, jellies etc that upsets digestion and cause stomachaches.
  8. Infections including allergic skin reactions, spread through air or direct contact (playing in mud).
  9. Worm infestations like pinworms.
  10. Emotional stress at home or at school can lead to headaches.
  11. Mental retardation, speech and hearing problems, vision and reading problems can cause learning problems in child.
  12. Injury is most common cause of muscle, bone and joint disorder in children.
  13. Some children may have health problems that are congenital or present from birth and may not be discovered at the time of birth but at a later stage.

Common sign and symptoms:

Though symptoms vary widely with age as in infants, in early or late childhood etc, most commonly seen are as follows:

  1. Respiratory distress syndrome, physiological jaundice etc especially seen in premature babies.
  2. Excessive crying, spitting up milk etc seen in infants and very active child.
  3. Cough, cold, fever, loss of appetite etc are common symptoms of general illness.
  4. Constipation/diarrhea or dysentery.
  5. Stomach pain, itching at anus, indigestion seen in pinworm infestation.
  6. Iron deficiency anemia with fatigue, weakness, unable to play or carry out daily activities.
  7. Bedwetting (enuresis).
  8. Infectious diseases like mumps, measles, chicken pox etc have their characteristic features.
  9. Congenital disorders include congenital heart disease, spina-bifida, hydrocephalus etc.
  10. Ringworm is a common skin infection with scaly, round itchy patches over scalp, face or nails.

General measures:

  1. Water boiled with ajowan or asafetida, or milk boiled with ginger is useful in many digestive disorders mainly pain in abdomen.
  2. Use of fomentation with hot water bag or piece of cloth with leaves of ajowan or coriander etc wrapped in it, especially over abdomen.
  3. Honey is very useful for children in disorders like cough, cold, fever etc due to its sweet flavor.
  4. Leaves of holy basil for chewing can be given to child especially suffering from pinworms, breathlessness etc.
  5. Oil massage with addition of little rock salt to it is useful as a good form of nourishment especially in children suffering from asthma.
  6. Nutritious food like milk, ghee, pure butter etc is essential for good overall development.
  7. Avoid direct contact with cold air.