While many adults suffer through diarrhea at some points in their life, when children – especially younger children – get diarrhea, it can be much more serious because of their non-developed organs. I chose to research childhood diarrhea because almost everyone knows what this topic is, and many people – especially parents – tend to overlook how severe this issue can be when a young child has diarrhea because they mistakenly relate their own cases of diarrhea to their child’s.For those who have been granted with bowels of stone, “[d]iarrhea is when stools (bowel movements) are loose and watery” (“Diarrhea in Children” 1). Generally, cases of diarrhea last around 1 to 2 days, but there are chronic cases of diarrhea where it can last up to four weeks. Chronic diarrhea is usually linked to an intestinal disease, and it’s usually found in older adults. For the sake of this paper, only short-term, or acute, diarrhea will be discussed because this is the type that most children have. Diarrhea is caused by many things such as bacterial and viral infections, digestive problems, food and medicine allergies, parasites, and intestinal diseases (“Diarrhea in Children” 1).
Treatment of diarrhea depends on the child’s age and symptoms while evaluating how severe the condition is. The major concern with diarrhea is dehydration, and this causes lost fluids (“Diarrhea in Children” 1). The child should drink lots of fluids to replace the lost ones, and should avoid drinks such as juice and soda. Contrary to popular belief, plain water is usually bad to give and can be dangerous, so kids should take more glucose-electrolyte solutions which allow the body to balance itself.
If the diarrhea is not stopped in two days, and the child has not quickly recovered, it may be time to see a physician. Medication is usually not needed, but the children starts losing blood and vomiting, it may be a cause of another infection that requires medication (Rodriguez 1).