Health Tips for Better Life

Constipation is a very common problem for children. For most children, constipation means passing hard stools (faeces), with difficulty, less often than normal. Regular soiling (often mistaken for runny

diarrhoea) may indicate that a child has bad constipation with impaction (a blockage of faeces). Where no particular disease or illness is the cause of the constipation, it is called idiopathic constipation. It is important that constipation be recognised early to prevent it from becoming a long-term (chronic) problem. Note: there is a separate leaflet on constipation in adults.