When a child has a fever, their appetite may be affected, but nutrient metabolism accelerates and the consumption of nutrients increases significantly. Therefore, it is even more important to supplement nutrition and energy during a fever. So what foods are good for children with fever? What foods should I eat when I have a fever?
Foods suitable for fever
1. Liquid diet
The main choices for liquid foods include milk, rice soup, mung bean soup, fresh fruit juice, etc.
Children under one year old should mainly consume milk, which can be diluted with water or added with rice soup. Milk can provide protein for children, while rice soup can shorten the protein molecular chain of milk and make it easier to absorb;
When making rice soup, use good rice, add an appropriate amount of sugar or salt, and you can add mung beans, which have the effect of clearing heat and detoxifying. You can also cook mung bean soup separately for children to drink;
The main components of fresh fruit juice are vitamins, minerals, and carbohydrates, with only a small amount of plant protein, which is easy to absorb. For example, watermelon juice used in summer has the effects of clearing heat, relieving summer heat, quenching thirst, diuresis, and eliminating irritability. Pear juice used in autumn and winter has the effects of moistening the lungs, clearing the heart, relieving cough, and expelling phlegm.
2. Semi liquid diet
Semi liquid foods include lotus root powder, milk replacer powder, and relatively soft noodles. Generally, during the acute or high fever period, liquid foods are mainly consumed, while during the recovery and fever reduction periods, semi liquid foods are consumed. Children with fever have poor appetite, do not force feeding, but pay attention to replenishing fluids. Do not suddenly increase the amount of food that the child has not eaten in the past during the fever period to avoid diarrhea.
What foods should children not eat when they have a fever?
1. Sweetened food: Sweetened food not only causes gastrointestinal dampness and affects appetite, but also causes bloating and indigestion, making the disease difficult to cure. This type of food includes various sweet drinks, ice cream, fruit juice, canned fruits, honey, fruit candy, chocolate, etc. In addition, when drinking milk, try to add as little sugar as possible to avoid bloating and affecting digestion.
2. Cold drinks: In summer, children may experience fever, elevated body temperature, and often have symptoms of thirst and a preference for cold drinks. They particularly enjoy eating cold drinks such as ice cream, ice cream, popsicles, and frozen soda. However, after consuming such cold drinks, the stomach of children with fever will rapidly tighten, which can easily cause loss of appetite, indigestion, and not eating staple foods, leading to malnutrition. So cold drinks should not be given to children when they have a fever.
3. Fatty food: children with indigestion after fever should eat light and easily digestible food instead of greasy food, such as fried cakes, fried pork chops, fried Mantou, cream cakes, fatty pork, mutton, oily chicken soup, duck soup and all kinds of fried foods. It is also not advisable to add too much oil when stir frying vegetables. Greasy food can hinder children's digestion and often cause gastrointestinal symptoms such as decreased appetite and diarrhea.
4. Foods that promote yang and aid fire: Children who experience fever in summer are mostly those with yin deficiency. On the one hand, they should avoid consuming foods that promote yang and aid fire, and choose foods that are sweet and cold in taste; On the other hand, people should avoid pig head meat, rooster, carp, dog meat, mutton, longan, litchi, chestnuts, oranges, etc., because these foods are hot, which can increase the fever after eating. Encyclopedia Reminder: Children with fever should limit their intake of fat and salt, avoid eating fried or stimulating foods to prevent increased thirst and frequent urination. Give children some easily digestible foods such as mung bean soup and porridge, actively treat them, and promptly reduce their fever. In severe cases, they should be sent to the hospital for treatment to prevent the occurrence of encephalitis.
