childhood digestion Tag

Here is the case of a 5 year old boy with what we call ‘swinging bowels’ ie he would be constipated for upto a week at a time alternating with diarrhea that resulted in him having to wear nappies to school.  He had been referred to a paediatrician due to concerns over his size as he was both under height and underweight for his age.   He often refused to eat complaining of tummy ache, was pale in colour, had low energy levels and craved sugar all the time, trouble sleeping at night and getting up in the mornings, and was generally rather miserable.