If your child is eating properly but still losing weight or not growing as expected, he might have a problem turning the food he eats into enough energy for him to play and grow.

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Losing energy while fighting off an infection:

Your child might be suffering from a medical problem affecting his digestive system, causing vomiting or diarrhea. Usually these conditions result from infectious diseases, meaning: he might have caught some virus or bacteria that is making him ill. During this illness his body is spending a lot of energy fighting this bacterium, while not being able to use the energy from the food he eats because it all goes to waste through the vomiting or the diarrhea. If this is the case you should see a doctor so that he could get the proper treatment. In the meantime, make sure that he drinks a lot because he is losing fluids and might be dehydrated, which could make it harder for him to get better.

 

How can you prevent this from happening again in the future?

1.  Make sure you vaccinate all your children according to the national immunization program. Many of these diseases are preventable with vaccinations.

2. Maintain a high level of hygiene, since the risk for getting some of these diseases is lower if you remember to wash your hands with soap before making food for your children, or after changing their diapers. In addition to that, if one of the siblings is sick do your best to keep them apart by making sure they don’t sleep in the same bed just for a few days and wash your hands with soap after treating the sick sibling, so that the others won’t be infected. It is not guaranteed that these methods will prevent the spread of all illnesses, but it will definitely lower the risk.

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