Abstract:

Pediatric anorexia is a common digestive issue in pediatric department. Clinically, it is usually characterized by a long-term dislike of eating and reduced food intake, which, if persists, can lead to malnutrition and delayed development in children. Professor Duan Xiaozheng, who has years of clinical experience, believes that although the problem lies in the spleen and stomach, the choice of prescriptions and medications is closely related to the child's constitution. He suggests invigorating the spleen and promoting transportation to strengthen the body's foundation, calming the liver and regulating qi to smooth the flow, awaking the spleen and soothing the mind to relieve stagnation, tonifying the kidneys and replenishing essence to tonify the spleen, and nourishing yin and producing fluids to restore moistness. Treatment should be conducted based on syndromes with flexible therapies, first assessing the child's constitution, then identifying what is root cause and what is urgent; based on the child's constitutional characteristics of "three excesses and four deficiencies", the syndrome-differentiated treatment for pediatric anorexia can be performed with constitution as the root and syndrome as manisfestations.

Key words: Anorexia, Syndrome-differentiated treatment of traditional Chinese medicine, Constitutional characteristics, Three excesses and four deficiencies, Child