Children with chronic kidney disease (CKD)

Every kid requires good nutrition. If your child has been identified with kidney disease, knowledge about nutrition is very important because the diet of your child can influence the performance of the kidneys. Kidneys help to maintain our health, when blood flows through the kidneys, waste products and extra water are removed from the blood and sent to the bladder as urine. In addition, the kidneys also regulate blood pressure, balance sodium, potassium, calcium, and phosphorus and also control the release of hormones that help bones grow and make red blood cells.

In the early stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD), the kidneys continue to function. They just do not function as well as normal kidneys do. As the kidney function decline slowly, a child’s body may get used to it and sometimes parents may not be aware of the changes in the way their child feels or looks. As the kidney disease getting worse till stages 4 and 5, children will have more symptoms of kidney disease. As kidney disease progresses, nutritional needs change as well. When the kidneys do not function properly, healthcare professionals might suggest a change in the kid’s diet to protect the kidneys. Health problems from CKD can be prevented or delayed by eating the right foods as kidney disease can bound a child’s growth.

Parents can work closely with healthcare professionals to ensure that their kid’s growth is normal. The nutritional needs of children may change as they grow. Parents should work with healthcare professionals to make sure that their child obtains the correct quantity of all nutrients that are necessary. From time to time, the healthcare experts may recommend changes in both the quantity and the types of food the child’s diet to ensure that the kids achieve the nutrition requirement. Some knowledge on food choices may help parents to know what changes need to be made to make sure that their kid is healthy. Healthy eating patterns are also important for children with CKD in order to maintain their nutrition requirements.

Other than changes in nutritional needs, children with CKD may also experience feelings such as depression, anger, fear, and denial related to the medical condition. Moreover, CKD can also cause the increase of fatigue, mental status changes, confusion and also poor memory. Furthermore, CKD may also delays in psychomotor development and oral aversion especially children born with CKD. Therefore, parents and the medical team or healthcare professionals must provide emotional support to children when such difficulties occur and also may need to consider changes in the medical and dietary management in order to maximize the growth potential of the child.