Bowel Habits and Toilet Training in a Diverse Population of Children

Abstract

Most of the children between 5 and 8 years of age have a medium-size bowel movement daily or every other day without straining or withholding. Although African American children toilet train at an earlier age than do white children, bowel habits appear to be similar. A sizeable subgroup of children presenting to primary care providers have a history that is consistent with constipation.

Normal Bowel Pattern in Children and Dietary and Other Precipitating Factors in Functional Constipation

“…Retentive behaviour was more common in boys (56.6%) which are similar to study by Wald et al, [12]. In our study faecal soiling was present in 40.4% of children and was equally distributed between both sexes.…”

“…Faecal soiling was 30.8% in the study conducted by Khanna et al, [1]. In the study by Wald et al, faecal soiling was more common in boys [12]. Faecal soiling was observed in 84% of children at presentation by Voskuijl which was very high as compared to our study [13].…”

“…In the study by Wald et al, found that most children between 5-8 years of age have medium size bowel movement daily or every other day without straining [12]. According to the study done by Yong et al, 96% of school children had a stool frequency between the range of three times a day and once every two days [23].…”

Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms from Childhood to Adulthood: A Population Based Study of 594 Finnish Individuals 4 to 26 Years Old

“…Most studies demonstrate that daytime UI is more common in girls, 9 although the difference may be slight. The ages at which diapers for urine were discontinued are in keeping with the literature on toilet training in children, where there is general agreement that girls master toilet training earlier than boys, 25 and that daytime bladder control precedes nighttime control. 26 Some type of minor daytime UI was reported by approximately a fourth of the study population.…”

Constipation in children: incidence, causes in relation to diet pattern and psychosocial aspects

“…Wald et al found retentive behavior to be more common in boys similar to ours. 17 In this study, fecal soiling was present in 44.05% of children with slight female preponderance (n=48). Fecal soiling was 30.8% in the study conducted by Khanna et al In the study by Wald et al; fecal soiling was more common in boys.…”