Poor appetite can be responsible for other health issues in children. Therefore, it is necessary to identify such causes and treat them at the earliest. Read on to learn about the common causes of poor appetite in children.Poor appetite can cause serious health issues and improper cognitive development in your kids. Do you often go mad while feeding your kids? Are they picky-eaters? Do you think your kids’ appetite has gone down all of a sudden? Then you must reach out to the roots and find out what are the main reasons behind such
poor appetite in your children.
Do Your Kids Fall Sick Often?
Illness is one of the main reasons your kids are not feeling like eating anything. Most of the children get back to normal when they feel better, but in few kids, sickness can have a long-term effect causing poor appetite in them.
If your kids have common fever, runny nose, cough, rash, or other symptoms of sickness, it is important to take them to the nearby doctor for a quick remedy and also mention about the loss of appetite in them.
Make your kids eat fresh
fruits and
vegetables and keep an eye on your kids’
immune system, otherwise falling ill so often can have a long-term affect on poor appetite causing serious health risks.
Are Your Kids Unhappy?
If your kids are not sick, but still complaining to finish their meal fully, then check whether their mental state is fine. If your kids are stressed or depressed due to any reason, it can have a direct link to their disinterest in having food.
Death of a pet, death in family, parental issues, family fights, educational stress, not keeping up to parents’ expectations, etc. – the reason behind depression can be any, which can cause poor appetite in them. Do not mistaken sadness with depression – sadness is a state of mind that goes away, but depression stays for a long time causing poor appetite. Happiness is a key to healthy appetite.
Is Their Blood Count Fine?
Your kids are not feverish and they are usually happy, but still when it comes to the dinner table, they are least interested to eat. Do they seem tired, weaker, and get easily irritated? Then you must get their blood test done.
Studies show that low
iron count in blood leading to anemia can cause a drastic decline in appetite in kids. If anemia is not treated at an early stage, it can worsen your children’s health causing a serious effect on their development and performance.
Are They Having Stomach Problems?
Are your kids facing irregular bowel movement very often? Or are they having loose motions? In both the cases, your kids will lose interest in eating. Also, intestinal worms can cause serious loss of appetite in kids. Worms can live like parasites in their digestive system and can cause dysentery, intestinal bleeding, and hence loss of appetite.
Are Your Kids on Medicines?
Loss of appetite is a very common side effect of most of the medicines. If your kids are on antibiotics, then it is very obvious that their taste buds to reluctant to any type of food. Antibiotics take a serious toll on your kids’ appetite. So if your pediatrician prescribes antibiotics, you have to discuss with him or her and know the alternatives to deal with poor appetite your kids would be facing for the following days. Your pediatrician may prescribe something extra to keep the appetite normal in your kids in such cases.
There are many things you can do to alleviate poor appetite in your kids. Avoid arguing or scolding during mealtime, encourage your kids to make healthy food choices, make sure they are physically active, serve them small portions of foods at regular intervals, do not force-feed, offer your kids various menus during mealtimes, make mealtime fun, and avoid distractions. It is also important to let your kids know 10-15 min before meal is served, so that it gives them time to prepare themselves for mealtime.
What can cause poor appetite in children? How to treat poor appetite in children? Which health problems can be caused in children due to poor appetite? Discuss here. 
