Let's face it - poop is a funny thing. Especially when it comes to kids. But sometimes, parents may notice something concerning - green poop! Before you start to panic, let's take a humorous look at what this could mean for your little one.
The Basics of Poop
Before we dive into the causes and effects of green poop, let's review some basics about everyone's favorite subject. - Composition: Poop is made up of waste products that our bodies don't need. This can include undigested food particles, dead cells, mucus, and bacteria. - Color: Normal stool color ranges from shades of brown to yellowish-brown. Changes in color can indicate problems with digestion or other health issues. - Texture: The texture of stool can range from solid to loose or even watery. There are many factors that contribute to consistency including diet and hydration.
Now that we have covered the fundamentals let’s explore different occasions when children experience symptoms like green stool:
Green Stool From Food
Kids are notorious for being picky eaters but sometimes they may end up trying something new which ends up as their next favourite dish until further added ingredients sabotage the ingredient list by introducing weird colours in poo (who would’ve thought?). Here are various groups:
Fruits & Veggies
Broccoli might be hailed as superfood but consuming it in excessive quantity makes its way out kinda funky looking so watch out for high intake of leafy greens such as spinach etc.
Food Coloring
Who doesn’t love candies? And the best part involves its amazing reward –‘candypoop’, yeap! Ingesting treats consisting artificial dyes will lead too much supply making intestinal walls hard time digesting them leading semi-artificial excretion i.e., candy-colored stools!
Other Foods
Pesto and spinach ravioli, anyone? The green dye can cause poo change...hmm been there done that!
Green Stool From Medication
There are various medications involving iron supplements and medicines used to treat ADHD which changes stool colour. Therefore assisting yourself with knowledge of medication and its side effects always helps.
Health Problems?
Green poop may also be an indication that your child is facing some serious health problems like Celiac disease or gastroenteritis (which basically means upset stomach). Do not attempt further diagnose yourself by using webMD or ‘Dr.Google’. Trust upon healthcare professionals as they have authentic knowledge in medical field and will prescribe relevant examinations for diagnosis.
Don’t freak out! There are other symptoms associated with these ailments apart from colour of poop such vomiting so accurately observe chances before calling over a prognosis.
Instead of freaking out about the potential issues causing your child's green poop, here are some tips on what parents can do:
Keep Tabs On Their Food Intake
Keep a sharp mind when introducing newer ingredients into meals especially those high in fiber content such plums, apricots etcetera.
Monitor Other Symptoms!
Remember the list mentioned above? So along with just greener stools start observing other indicators i.e., bloating abdominal pain etcetera will help narrow down differential diagnoses finer giving physicians head starts to possible conditions.
Consult With Your Doctor If Needed
Listen carefully folks – only trust qualified healthcare practitioners when it comes to diagnosis instead of self-assessments as you’re after all padding margins for risks rather than taking proper care. A doctor might want to run tests depending on history obtained concluding evidential data related etiology of clinical condition at hand stopping individuals practicing amateur medicine.
So next time you come across green poop during diaper changing… don’t panic!! Evaluate reasons we’ve talked about including diet change/medication/heath concerns if any observed complain immediately with guidance sought from medical staff.
It’s always better to be safe than sorry!