What Causes Stomach Pain And Limited Physical Growth?

Posted on Sat, 6 Jun 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 6 Jun 2015 Answered on

Fri, 26 Jun 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi,my 13 y/o son is quite small for his age, often says he has a pain in the belly, not severe but irritating. I have taken him to the doctor in the past and described what he has eaten etc the doctor suggested he may be sensitive to thongs like caffeine. My son takes a probotic powder every morning.
if you don't think his size and tummy are related can he take a suplemement to help with growth?

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (5 hours later)

Brief Answer:
The height and weight of the parents is important

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.

Speaking about the size of your son, I would ask for the height and weight of you and your spouse. If you two have a small stature it is likely to give rise to a small stature of your child.

Rather than giving probiotic powder, I would suggest giving plenty of yogurt which contains beneficial bacteria, same as the ones contained in the probiotic powder. Let me mention that supplements are not going to help in growth. Our body is made of protein and the energy comes from carbohydrates. So, in order to grow properly, these need to be given in bulk. These cannot be contained in a capsule, XXXXXXX or a few teaspoonfuls of syrup.

About the belly pain, I would be apprehensive about some malabsorption syndrome which could be linked to small stature. I would suggest you to get a stool microscopy done and to share the reports using the image upload facility on the upper right of this page.

I would await your response. Enroll your child for swimming classes and that will help him grow better.

Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar