Eating habits, lifestyle and intestinal constipation in children aged four to seven years

Objective: to investigate the association between intestinal constipation, lifestyle and eating habits in four to seven year old children. Methods: a cross-sectional study with a sample of 152 children aged four to seven years old. Intestinal constipation was characterized according to the Rome IV criteria. Excess weight was classified by the body mass index. Variables that could be associated with constipation, such as maternal constipation, lifestyle, food and water intake, were selected. In the analysis, the prevalence ratio using Poisson regression, with a robust variance and statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: the prevalence of intestinal constipation was 32.2% (n = 49), of which 34.7% (n = 17) of the children were overweight. As for lifestyle, 73% of the children did not practice any regular physical activities and approximately 60% spent more than two hours a day in sedentary activities, such as watching television or playing electronic games. A statistically significant association was found between constipation and daily school time equal to or greater than 4.5 hours (p = 0.007), non-consumption of fruits (p = 0.003) and greens (p = 0.007) and regular intake of fried food (p = 0.003). Conclusion: an association between intestinal constipation and unhealthy habits, such as non-consumption of fruits and vegetables, and regular consumption of fried food was observed. Preventing intestinal constipation requires changes in the lifestyle and eating habits of the children and family.