Constipations in Infants: Causes and Mechanisms of Dietary Correction

Constipations in infants of the first months of life are an important problem due to their high prevalence. There is no organic cause of constipation in 90–95% of all cases, so the most common are functional constipations. As the main target in treatment of constipations in infants is normalization of the intestinal contents consistency and its movement through the large intestine, in order to correct this condition a complex approach should be provided with dietary treatment and as required — medicinal treatment and mechanical evacuation of the intestine contents. One of the main methods of constipations correction in infancy is dietary treatment, which has its own special characteristic according to the type of feeding and further when additional food is introduced. If infants are on breast feeding their mothers are recommended to add vegetable oils and dietary fibers into their diet. Children on artificial feeding are switched to milk formulas according individual clinical situation and associated manifestations — such as regurgitation, colic and cow milk protein intolerance. Patients with functional constipations are indicated medicinal mixtures and additional food with prebiotics (dietary fibers, lactulose, inulin). Clinical efficacy of children food enriched with prebiotics in treatment of constipations is confirmed in various studies.