关键词: 排便状况, 便秘, 儿童

Abstract: 【Objective】 To identify the normal defecation patterns of children under 6 years old. 【Methods】 This study was performed on the infants and young children who were below 6 years old recruited consecutively from December 2009 to March 2010. 425 children who were visiting the Child Health Care Clinic in Children′s Hospital of Chongqing Medical University and 78 children from a local kindergarten were involved. Questionnaire was answered by the main carers for 0～24 months and 2.1～6 years respectively. The conditions of stools were included. 【Results】 At the end of the first year , over 90% children passed stools once or twice a day and had formed stools, gradually approaching adult pattern. Nearly 40%(70/207)infants formed a regular stool timing and 90.9% of them formed it before 6 month old. Among the 503 children under 6 years old, 57 had constipation(11.3％). Nearly 60% constipated children still passed stools once a day. 【Conclusions】 Age can affect the normal defecation patterns of children. Merely the frequency of stools can not make the diagnosis of constipation.

Key words: defecation patterns, constipation, children