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[Normal values of the main stool constituents from age 1 year to puberty (author's transl)]
Insights
Daily stool output in children aged 1-17 years shows significant changes in wet weight and nitrogen between early childhood and later years. Fecal volatile acids correlate with stool weight, not fat content, impacting absorption estimates.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Nutritional Physiology
- Human Metabolism
Context:
- Understanding normal fecal excretion is crucial for assessing pediatric digestive health.
- Daily stool constituent excretions were analyzed in healthy children across different age groups.
Purpose:
- To quantify daily stool wet weight, nitrogen, fat, volatile acids, sodium (Na+), and potassium (K+) excretions in children.
- To identify age-related variations and correlations between fecal components in a healthy pediatric cohort.
Summary:
- Measurements were taken across 97 balance periods in 73 children (ages 1-17). Stool wet weight and nitrogen excretion showed significant increases from ages 1-2 to 2-6 years.
- Fecal volatile acids strongly correlated with stool wet weight (p < 0.001), but fecal fat showed a weak correlation, suggesting percentage of fat in stool is not a reliable absorption indicator.
Impact:
- Provides normative data for key fecal constituents in children, aiding in the interpretation of digestive function tests.
- Highlights the limited utility of fecal fat percentage for assessing fat absorption in children, necessitating alternative diagnostic approaches.
Abstract:
The daily excretions of the main stool constituents have been measured during 97 balance periods performed in 73 children aged 1 to 17 years and whose digestive functions could be considered as normal. From 1 to 2, 2 to 6, and 6 to 17 years of age, the following values (mean and range) have been obtained: expressed in g/day, for stool wet weight: 61 (33-112), 79 (19-157), 76 (22-166); for nitrogen: 0.49 (0.26-1.06), 0.74 (0.3-2.13), 0.83 (0.3-1.52); for fat: 2 (1-3.6), 1.9 (0.9-3.2), 1.8 (0.6-4.5); expressed in mmol/day for volatile acids: 10.1 (5.2-18), 13.7 (1.8-23.7), 10.1 (3.5-27.5); for Na+ : 0.7 (0.3-1.2), 1 (0.1-3.2), 1.1 (0.1-4); for K+ : 4.4 (3-6.7), 5.1 (1.7-10.4), 5.9 (1.6-11). Only wet weight and nitrogen vary significantly from the first to the second period of age (p less than 0.05 and less 0.01 respectively). Wet weight is highly correlated with volatile acid excretion (p less than 0.001) but weakly linked to fecal fat which implies that the measurement of the percentage of fat in fresh stools is not a correct estimate of their absorption.