How to Improve Your Child’s Digestion

It can often seem like digestion problems don’t start until you are an adult, but many 
children and teens also experience issues digesting food. In some cases, it is from food 
sensitivities or allergies, like lactose intolerance, but in other kids it has to do with what 
they’re eating and often how much.

Here are some helpful tips for improving your child’s digestion.


Know the Common Food Sensitivities Among Kids

The first way to help your kids with their digestion is by understanding what food 
sensitivities they might have. They don’t need a full-blown allergy just to experience 
digestive issues from what they eat. There are many foods that cause mild sensitivity, 
but enough to affect their young digestive system.

While this may vary depending on each person, some common foods that might cause 
sensitivity in kids include:

Dairy – milk, ice cream, yogurt
Seafood or shellfish
Eggs
Peanuts or other shelled nuts
High-fiber foods

Try to keep track of what your kids eat and how it affects their body. If your child 
complains of a tummy ache after eating something, that is a good indication that it 
contained something their digestive system doesn’t enjoy.


Help Your Kids Avoid Overeating

A very common cause of indigestion in both kids and adults is overeating. For kids, they 
aren’t thinking about weight or nutrition, they just know what they enjoy eating. 
Sometimes, this is watermelon, and other times it’s sugary cereal. Regardless of what 
they are eating, overeating anything can be hard on their digestive systems.

While you don’t need to weigh and measure your kids’ foods, try to encourage using 
child-sized plates or bowls when dishing out their food, so they have a better concept of 
portion sizes.


Minimize Snacking When They Struggle with Digestive Issues

With digestive issues in kids, the best way to figure out the cause of it is by tracking 
what they are eating. With snacking, it can be a little more difficult to nail down what the 
actual problem is. For now, it might be a good idea to reduce in between meal snacking. 
Or at the very least, keep it to one small snack a day until you have a better 
understanding about what is affecting their digestion.


Keep a Food Diary When Necessary

Food diaries provide so many great purposes, including helping you figure out why your 
kids have digestive issues. This really is the best way to find out why your kids have 
digestive issues. Bring your food diary to their pediatrician to see if they notice any 
patterns.



