PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Clarke, Joely
AU  - Tighe, Mark Peter
TI  - Fifteen-minute consultation on the healthy child: Bowel habit in infants and children
AID  - 10.1136/archdischild-2018-315162
DP  - 2019 Jun 01
TA  - Archives of disease in childhood - Education & practice edition
PG  - 114--119
VI  - 104
IP  - 3
4099  - http://ep.bmj.com/content/104/3/114.short
4100  - http://ep.bmj.com/content/104/3/114.full
SO  - Arch Dis Child Educ Pract Ed2019 Jun 01; 104
AB  - A common presentation to the general paediatric clinic is a child or young person’s difficult bowel habit, which is often a potent source of anxiety for parents and carers. A large proportion of these children will have a functional cause for their symptoms, with unnecessary investigation and non-evidence-based treatments adding to their difficulties. This article aims to explain what encompasses the normal bowel habit in children and young people, reassure where appropriate and identify those patterns that may be suggestive of a disorder or disease requiring treatment. We illustrate both extremes of the spectrum of normal bowel habit in children with two case studies.