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Nestle Nigeria recently held its annual nutrition programme and this year the theme was ‘Happiness is back in the family’ with the focus on infantile colic.
Baby colic (also known as infantile colic) is defined as episodes of crying for more than three hours a day for more than three days a week for three weeks in an otherwise healthy child between the ages of two weeks and four months.
The cause of the colic is generally unknown. Less than 5% of infants with excess crying have an underlying organic disease.
Crying associated with a baby’s colic can cause relationship stress, breastfeeding failure, postpartum depression, excess visits to the doctor, and child abuse, such as shaken baby syndrome.
It is present in between 5% and 25% of infants. Treatment is generally conservative with little to no role for medications, either conventional or alternative. It often disappears when the baby is three to four months old, but can last up to one year. There are no long term problems associated with the condition.
Giving his opening remarks, Mazhar Qureshi, category business manager, Nutrition, at Nestlé Nigeria plc said that “Colic is the first reason for consulting a doctor. Disturbed sleep pattern and abdominal pains in excessively crying young babies last up till 10 years of life. Infantile colic is a risk factor for high maternal depression score at two and six months and mothers of colicky babies are almost four times more likely to be depressed.
“In line with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations, we support exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of a child’s life and for as long as possible in combination with nourishing complementary foods. When breastfeeding is not possible, infant formula is a healthier alternative to choices such as cows’ milk or rice water.”
Mazhar further adds that “We’re strongly committed to marketing our infant food products in accordance with the WHO Code. We have implemented extensive management systems across all our operations to assure compliance with the WHO Code. These systems give detailed operational guidelines to all our employees involved in the sale and marketing of breast-milk substitutes with the objective of ensuring compliance with our policies and local regulations at all levels.”
Olufunmi Adeniyi, a consultant paediatrician while giving her speech which was titled ‘Infantile Colic: Causes and Consequences-Nigerian Perspective’, revealed that Nigerian mothers still have some gap in their knowledge of cause and course of infantile colic, and that self-medication was the most frequently used home-based interventions for infantile colic and was predominated by traditional herbal medicines.
In her words, “Nigerian mothers would need to be educated about colic through health education at paediatric and vaccination clinics, public health campaign and interdisciplinary team approach.
“Efficacy and toxicity of the traditional herbal medicines need to be established scientifically for their safe use for children. Government should strengthen the policy on sales and use of prescribed medicines in children without prescription so as to promote rational use of medicine in infants with colic.”
For Kimmo Makinen, Nestlé Research Centre, Lausanne, Switzerland, he spoke about ‘Gut comfort in infants: role of lactobacillus reuteri in colic management’. According to him, infantile colic is particularly difficult to console and is often accompanied by additional symptoms.
He further explained that Lactobacillus reuteri (L. Comfortis) is a unique probiotic culture, revealing that in the gut, there is a constant battle going on between the good and harmful bacteria but unfortunately, modern life style tends to favour bad bacteria which may cause gut function conditions such as colic, diarrhoea and constipation. In these situations, the good bacteria that are natural to the body need reinforcements.
In his words, “Lactobacillus reuteri (L. Comfortis), a unique probiotic culture (good & beneficial bacteria) naturally present in breast milk, will help to restore natural balance of good guys in the gut. Approximately 10 percent of mothers suffer from depression in the first months after birth.
“Mothers of babies with colic had higher Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Score (EPDS) than mothers of babies without colic. Even when colic stopped at two months after birth, mothers still have an increased risk of depression six months after birth. When babies cried excessively for up to six months after birth, more than a third of mothers had high EPDS scores.
“Colic has a significant negative impact on infant and family quality of life, with some effects persisting for years. L. Comfortis® significantly reduces crying time in colicky babies – much better than other remedies. It can also prevent the onset of colic. This leads to improved quality of life and also saves money. Mechanisms may involve improved microbiota balance and reduced perception of pain.”
Kemi Ajumobi
