Constipation more likely in kids avoiding green diets

LONDON - Children who avoid greens in their diet are 13 times more likely to be constipated, says a new study.

The research also found that drinking less than two glasses of water daily increases the risk significantly.

Constipation is an often painful condition when bowel movements are infrequent or hard to pass and can lead to more serious bowel obstructions, reports the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

Moon Fai Chan at the National University of Singapore and Yuk Ling Chan from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University studied the dietary habits of 383 primary school children in Hong Kong, according to the Daily Mail.

The team found that seven percent of the eight to 10-year-olds had ‘functional constipation’ - which is constipation without a physical or psychological cause.

Those who did not like fruits or vegetables were 13 times more likely to struggle in the toilets while children who did not drink enough water were eight times more at risk.

Chan said: “A number of studies have suggested that functional constipation is getting worse among children.”

“It is estimated that functional constipation accounts for 95 percent of cases of constipation affecting children once they pass infancy.”