Can Cough Influence Your Little One's Weight?

Cough is a frequent complaint, both for adults and Little Ones. Cough itself is the body's natural response to cleanse mucus or irritating factors to get out of the lungs. Although often underestimated, if there is a persistent coughing, it can make the sufferer to lose weight.

A cough caused by a viral infection will usually subside by itself.  Mommy needs to know that cough, based on its duration, is divided into 2 types, namely:

• Acute cough. This type of cough occurs less than 8 weeks. Most are caused by viral infections of the upper respiratory tract, such as colds or sinusitis and lower respiratory tract, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. An acute cough can also be triggered by a number of other factors, such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, or accidentally inhaling a cough precipitant such as dust or smoke.
• Chronic cough. Although rare, cough can indicate a more serious health condition. For example, tuberculosis and lung cancer. This type of cough occurs more than 8 weeks. This type of cough is more often experienced by adults.

And apparently, coughing can indeed reduce the weight of the sufferer. The following are the reasons underlying this:

Coughing Makes the Vomit Reflex of Your Little One to Increse

The food consumed by your Little One will come out before the body can absorb it. This makes the body must use fat as a backup energy source.

Cough Can Interfere Sleep Quality

Oftentimes, coughing makes it difficult for the Little One to sleep or wake up in the middle of the night, of course this makes the quality of sleep to decrease. This will make your Little One’s body to be easily tired. Then, fatigue due to lack of sleep will disrupt the body's metabolism. If your Little One experiences this, his/her appetite will decrease. As a result, there can be a weight loss later on.

Coughing Burns Lots of Calories

Depending on the patient's weight and height, coughing that persists for a long time can burn the body's calories. So, Mommy can imagine that the longer the cough is, the greater the risk of losing weight.

Although coughing often occurs to your Little One, you can do the following to help your Little One to avoid coughing:

• Get your Little One used to wash their hands.

  Teach your Little Ones to wash their hands every time they are done from doing an activity and before eating. Mommy must also wash hands especially before preparing food for the family.

• Consumption of nutritious foods.

  Take care of your Little One’s health by paying attention to his nutritional intake. Vary the food menu so that he/she gets the various vitamins and minerals needed. Also provide nutrients that contain nucleotides and lactoferrin.

  Nucleotides are proteins that the body needs to strengthen the immune system and support the health of the digestive system. Nutrition will be absorbed and channeled properly if digestion is healthy. This will make the Little One to be more active and smarter. Nucleotides also play an important role in the formation of the metabolism of the Little One.

Now Mommy already knows that coughing can have a bad impact on your Little One's weight. If the cough suffered by your Little One does not go away, immediately take him/her to the doctor for a proper examination and treatment.