I have been told by many medical students and residents that I am the only doctor that have ever heard take a diet history when doing a history and physical on a patient. Because many physicians in HMOs are limited to the amount of time they give a patient that may be understandable. Also I do not remember any discussion of food when I was a medical student. I had to earn about feeding children when I had my two children.
Now that gluten-free foods are so much in vogue, I think pediatricians, in particular, need to check on what a child is being fed. Sadly, I do not see that happening very often. A gluten-free diet is essential if a child has celiac disease, but this occurs in only about one percent of the population. A gluten-free diet for a child who does not have celiac disease can be harmful because it means the boy or girl will not get adequate protein, but will get an increase in fat and calories. Also a lot of the needed vitamins and minerals will be missed.
One of the other fads now that some parents are following is giving their children only raw foods. This may include raw or unpasteurized milk, yogurt, or cheese. One two-year-old was given just raw vegetables and didn't chew them well so ended up with a piece of carrot in his lungs. This meant a trip to the hospital for surgery. Other parents follow a fruit diet which makes no sense either. There are Blogs and support groups that advocate all these poor and unhealthy diets.
Another consideration for these unusual diets is that children may not be able to eat school lunches, go to birthday day parties, or other social events. I can see that there could be teasing or bullying for being so different. Children have a hard enough time these days just growing up with the pandemic, divorces, and other problems that adding a food problem to their lives makes little sense.
Comments