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Irritable bowel syndrome and functional abdominal pain in five‐year‐old children are related to lifestyle
Author(s) -
Uusijärvi Agneta,
Alm Johan,
Lindblad Frank,
Olén Ola
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
acta paediatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/apa.13455
Subject(s) - medicine , irritable bowel syndrome , abdominal pain , odds ratio , prospective cohort study , stressor , physical therapy , pediatrics , psychiatry
Aim Abdominal pain of functional origin is very common in childhood, and environmental factors are thought to be of aetiologic importance. The anthroposophic lifestyle has dietary and lifestyle characteristics that may influence child health, and this study aimed to assess the effect of such lifestyles on abdominal pain of functional origin. Methods A prospective Swedish lifestyle cohort (n = 470) was followed from birth to five years of age. Family lifestyles were characterised through questionnaires. Abdominal pain was defined as irritable bowel syndrome or functional abdominal pain according to the Rome III criteria and measured with parental questionnaires and interviews at the age of five. Results The prevalence of abdominal pain was 15%. Children were more likely to have abdominal pain at five years of age if their family had a partly anthroposophic lifestyle, with an adjusted odds ratio ( OR ) of 2.61 (95% CI 1.15–5.93), or an anthroposophic lifestyle, with an adjusted OR of 2.34 (95% CI 0.96–5.70). Conclusion A family lifestyle with anthroposophic characteristics was associated with an increased risk of abdominal pain in five‐year‐old children. The mechanisms for this increase were unclear, but we speculate that there may have been different prerequisites for coping with stressors.