Functional constipation in children ☆ , ☆☆

摘要

Childhood constipation is one of the most frequent functional gastrointestinal disorders, with a mean prevalence of14%.1 In North and South America, the prevalence in infantsto adolescents ranges between 10% and 23%, while for European children, figures between 0.7% and 12% are reported.2In Asia, the prevalence in children and adolescents is estimated to be between 0.5% and 29.6%.2 While constipationoccurs in all continents, currently there is a lack of prevalence data in children from Africa and Oceania. Many factorscontribute to the large variation in the reported prevalenceof constipation in children. The different criteria used forthe definition of functional constipation in studies hindersthe comparison between prevalence estimates.