There can be several causes of diarrhoea in children having cancer treatment.
Chemotherapy can have a direct effect on the cells lining the gut - from the mouth right through to the bottom.
Viral infections can cause diarrhoea (infective gastroenteritis). Your child is more at risk of this if they have low infection-fighting ability (low immunity).
These can be already existing intolerances, or intolerances related to temporary damage to the bowel caused by chemotherapy, or intolerances due to previous infections.
See the section below 'Which foods should my child avoid?'. This lists the foods that are most likely to carry infection.
Diarrhoea may cause your child's body to lose fluid and can lead to dehydration. Give your child more fluid to replace fluids lost in the watery poo.
Water, diluted fruit juice or flat soft drinks are suitable.
Offer your child light meals that are smaller than usual. Offer these meals more frequently than normal.
Suitable meals include:
If your child has diarrhoea, they should temporarily avoid seeds, pips, skins and coarse stalks of fruit, vegetables and grain.
Children who are neutropenic are at risk of infection from eating infected food. Here are some tips for keeping food safe to eat:
Read more about hygiene and hand washing [1]
The following foods could be unsafe to eat - do not give them to your child with low infection-fighting ability (low immunity):
Eating out can be risky because food in a restaurant may have been cooked earlier. Food cooked 'while you wait' is safe to eat. Do not ever eat chicken from a takeaway.
If your child has diarrhoea, tell your healthcare team.
All the pages in the childhood cancer section of this website [4] have been written by health professionals who work in the field of paediatric oncology. They have been reviewed by the members of the National Child Cancer Network (NZ). Medical information is authorised by the National Child Cancer Network Clinical Leader.
This page last reviewed 10 June 2021.
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Links
[1] https://kidshealth.org.nz/hygiene-and-hand-washing
[2] https://www.mpi.govt.nz/food-safety-home/people-low-immunity/
[3] https://kidshealth.org.nz/tags/infections-during-cancer-treatment
[4] https://kidshealth.org.nz/tags/childhood-cancer
[5] https://kidshealth.org.nz/contact?from=http%3A%2F%2Fkidshealth.org.nz%2Fprint%2F2323%3Flanguage%3Den