Illustration of a presentation at a Novalac conference

Functional defecation disorders in the first 3 years of life - Prof. M. Benninga

At our Novalac Symposium held on June 6th 2019 in Glasgow (UK), parallel to the ESPGHAN 2019 congress, Prof. Marc Benninga, pediatric gastroenterologist at the Emma Children’s Hospital (Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands) gave a presentation related to the functional defecation disorders in the first 3 years of life.

photo of Professor Marc Benninga, pediatric gastroenterologist

"If you don’t treat constipation within three months after symptoms, the chance of having symptoms later is very high: after three years of follow-up, almost half of the children still have symptoms of constipation. If you start with a beneficial therapy, after three years more than 80% of the children never have symptoms again.

So, please don't use a "wait and see" policy but start with an effective treatment."

Prof. Marc Benninga, pediatric gastroenterologist at the Emma Children’s Hospital (Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam)