FOOD INTOLERANCE NETWORK FACTSHEET

Sneaky poos

Also known as encopresis (or kids who poo in their pants), sneaky poos is accidental passing of a bowel motion in children who have already been toilet trained.

THEY SAY

Medical authorities regard encopresis as commonly caused by constipation or various neurological disorders.

Management: They generally recommend that the child should be required to sit on the toilet and and ‘try to go’ for 10-15 minutes immediately after eating in the hopes that creating a regular toileting schedule will encourage the child to achieve a normal toileting pattern.

Medication: Laxatives are also commonly recommended.

WE SAY

Kids with sneaky poos usually respond to a change in diet, especially in food intolerant families. If anyone in your extended family suffers from migraines, ADHD-type behaviours, difficulty falling asleep, or irritable bowel symptoms, it is worth considering the failsafe diet.

Foods most commonly associated with sneaky poos, in this order (worst first):

* MSG – about 70% of people with irritable bowel symptoms are affected

* Salicylates

* Preservatives

* Amines

* Colours

* Antioxidants like BHA – about 50% of people with IBS are affected

* dairy foods or wheat/gluten – a much smaller number are affected

Some failsafers’ experiences

* Regarding my son and salicylates, he found the last of the watermelon yesterday and today we had the worst case of soiling I can ever recall. He told me it just slipped out. He is nearly 6! He did try to clean himself up but as they do he made a bigger mess. We are very strict with his diet, well, normally. There’s no watermelon left now, the chooks enjoyed it. Thanks heaps.

* We did the failsafe diet as a family for our seven year old’s behaviour issues. I would have said there was nothing wrong with the four year old. He used to poo in his pants sometimes but I just put it down to being too busy to listen to what his body was telling him. Now we’ve just finished our salicylate challenge, I realise how wrong I was. It was salicylates! And I used to nag at him to eat fruit and vegetables thinking I was doing the right thing!

* I’m writing to say thank you for your work that has made such a huge difference to our twelve year old son. He used to live on stuff like cheese, ham, bacon but now he knows his sneaky poos are related to amines, he sticks to his diet really strictly. Of all the problems caused by foods, soiling really is the worst. No one ever talks about it but the stigma at school is terrible. The other kids used to call him names and make fun of him. My heart breaks for him when I think of what he had to go through, and no one else has been able to help us.

More information

Sneaky poos is one manifestation of irritable bowel symptoms, thought to affect about one in five Australians, and due to antibiotic overuse, Giardia, rotavirus, etc.

Other symptoms include bloating, stomach discomfort, reflux (in babies and adults), colic, constipation and/or diarrhoea (can be alternating), and a feeling of incomplete evacuation.

Factsheet: Constipation or incomplete evacuation

The Failsafe Cookbook by Sue Dengate, available in libraries and bookstores

www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info

The information given is not intended as medical advice. Always consult with your doctor for underlying illness. Before beginning dietary investigation, consult a dietician with an interest in food intolerance.

update April 2005