Nigerian doctor, Dr Olufunmilayo, lists out the dangers of force-feeding babies saying the food can go the wrong way, enter the lungs and cause pneumonia, choke the baby, and lead to death. He mentioned other harmful effects of force feeding babies. He said force -feeding is a form of physical abuse.
Never forcefeed a child.
That food can go the wrong way,
Child ends up in hospital,
Gets a chest infection and die.
Forcefeeding can kill children.
The day you see a child die from it,
You will never do it again.
Never ever forcefeed a child.
It can cause the food to go into the lungs and kill the child.
If the child in this video have the food go the wrong way, it can cause serious problem.
I have seen kids die from this.
You will never hear it.
But helpless kids have lost their lives.
Forcefeeding is traumatic for the child.
It is choking and torturing a child while you forcefully pass food into the stomach.
It damages the child.
It makes the child scared of food.
And psychologically, for a little child, it’s destructive.
This is not one of those times you say “they did it for everybody in my local govt and they are fine”.
The children who have died and damaged from this – you will never hear about them.
The parents and grandparents know and regret it. But they keep quiet out of shame and guilt.
Parenting is not easy.
And kids can be difficult to feed.
But the frustration of trying to feed your child should never push you to Forcefeeding that can make you kill your own child with your own hands.
Whatever your good intentions are,
When that child dies,
It won’t matter.
So what can you do then:
Be patient with the child
Give the child what they like.
Make food colourful and interesting.
Cut food/fruits into interesting shapes
That will entice the child.
When you make food like an interesting game to a child, the child would love it and try it.
Another thing is many parents are unnecessarily anxious about their kids.
They worry too much about the child “not eating” and “not growing” when actually the child is doing just fine.
Some will compare their child with other children and then assume their child is malnourished.
Sometimes this worrying causes parents to do crazy things like forcefeed their children in the bid to make the child grow.
Please do NOT do that.
There are children who are small.
And it does NOT mean they are automatically malnourished/unhealthy.
Pls let us be aware of this.
If both/one of the parents has small stature, it’s normal if the child to has a small stature. The physique of a child will most likely be similar to that of the parents/grandparents.
If your child is small but healthy,
And you the parent is small too,
There’s no need to worry.
However I should also mention that if you have genuine concerns about the height or weight of your child,
Take them to a children’s hospital, a nurse/doctor can quickly measure the height and weight and tell you objectively if the child is doing well or if there’s need to worry.
As a conclusion:
Never forcefeed children.
It’s a form of torture and physical abuse.
Be patient with kids.
Apply creative ways for the child to eat.
Make food an exciting activity for them.
If everything else fails
And you get overwhelmed with frustration,
Speak with a dietitian or nutritionist,
They are experts on children feeding issues and problems.
They can work with you on the best ways to make progress about feeding your child.
I hope this helps. Thank you.
And please be careful of nannies and carers too. Back in 2018 a white woman was arrested for forcefeeding a child in a daycare.
In many developed countries, forcefeeding is a criminal offence especially that one where children are choked, restrained and forcefully fed.
Think of this.
Imagine someone blocks your nose,
Ties your hands and legs up,
Stops you breathing and chokes you
Then pours food into your mouth,
How would you feel?
Is this feeding to you? Or torture?
We think it’s “normal” because we think it is cultural.
It’s NOT normal.
While choking a child to feed them,
Some kids have gone unconscious,
And ended up in the children’s intensive care unit, some may have brain damage and eventually die from all that trauma.
It’s NOT worth it.
Whatever your excuses,
Whatever your reasoning,
Pls, Don’t EVER do it.
Dr Olufunmilayo
