By Hardip Singh Gendeh | Healthcare |
Lately, there have been many sweets or ‘soft candy’ that are large and chewy in nature sold with many being viral in the social media.
In Malaysia, a 10-year-old child died from choking to a soft candy in the shape of a human eyeball. The boy from Penang, who had been fighting for his life in intensive care for two days after choking on the gummy candy, died on Feb 20.
Soft candy is a chewy candy that includes gum, marshmallow and caramel. They pose several risks to swallowing among children as
1) Its chewy nature that changes shape makes it difficult for the child’s teeth to chew before it is swallowed into the stomach. Therefore it is not suitable for small children who have not yet grown teeth or do not have strong teeth.
2) Its elastic property also allows it to change shape without breaking into small sizes. Therefore, large and round chewy candies should be avoided because when swallowed before chewing, they may conform to the surrounding resulting in obstruction to the airway, this is in particular for children under 5-years-old.
3) Due to the increase in chewing effort, our salivary glands are forced to work overtime, producing large amounts of saliva. This further contributes to the risk of choking.
4) Pliable and round objects or food have shown to pose a higher risk of choking compared to solids.
Susy Safe Group is a research group in Europe that collects data on choking incidents for children around the world. According to the Susy Safe report, choking on foreign bodies (food or toys) is the highest cause of death among children under 3 years of age and is at risk of occurring in children up to the age of 14.
In a scientific journal publication by the author in The Indian Journal of Pediatrics, there are approximately 42 children in Malaysia who were reported to have swallowed or choked on food or foreign bodies from 1970-2015. However, this number may be higher as not all cases are being reported within the scientific platform. The publication highlighted that round foods such as beans are the most choked foods compared to plastic foreign objects such as pencil caps in Malaysia.
Food Color and Shape
Soft Candy that is always made in interesting colors, tasty flavors and a plethora shapes, often becoming an envy and attraction to our children. Another study conducted by Dr Gendeh and Prof Dr Goh at UKM’s Faculty of Medicine discovered that spherical shaped food is more likely to cause choking. Brightly colored food or foreign object is more likely to become foreign in the ear, nose or throat because it gives more attraction to the child.
If sweets are eaten in moderation, they rarely have a big impact. However, if a child eats excessively it may lead to harmful health consequences. Among them are
1) The risk of getting diabetes
2) The Risk of gaining weight and being obese
3) Teeth are easily damaged due to bacteria that feed on sugar as food
4) Consuming large amounts of sweets results in early satiety causing lack of nutrients and other vitamins. This in turn may stunt growth.
Preventing Chocking
There are several steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of choking. Among them are
1) Always check candy labels for appropriate age warnings. For example, a large piece of candy that poses a choking risk may display a warning to be kept away from children aged 4 and under.
2) Parents or guardians need to watch children when they are given candies or small toys that are easy to swallow to reduce the risk of choking
3) Avoid feeding large chunky sweets to children. Sweets should be cut into smaller sizes lest choking
4) Avoid eating while playing. Children who play while chewing candy are easily distracted and overworked, causing choking incidents.
5) Equipping parents, guardians and teachers with first aid for a choking child.
6) Educate parents not to allow access to small objects or dangerous foods, especially to children under 3 years of age.
Where do we go from here?
Circumventing choking incidences is a shared responsibility from the parents to sweet manufacturers.
1) There should be an appropriate age on the candy label based on the risk of choking. The results of the Susy Safe project study suggest that food or foreign bodies smaller than the volume of the infamous ‘small parts ‘cylinder should not be given to children under 3 years old. Furthermore, a clear warning should be read on the label.
2) Avoid selling chewy sweets directly to children under 14 years of age.
3) There is a need to gather local/national data regarding the risk of choking among children
4) A mechanism for easy reporting of choking in Malaysia. Data is vital for evidence-based medicine in guiding the industry to produce age-appropriate food or toys in the need to reduce the risk of choking among children.
Dr Hardip Singh Gendeh is a lecturer at the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Dr Gendeh is also an ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon at Hospital Chancellor Tuanku Muhriz (HCTM), UKM.
RELATED STORY:
(Asia Samachar, x 2022)
ASIA SAMACHAR is an online newspaper for Sikhs / Punjabis in Southeast Asia and beyond. You can leave your comments at our website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will delete comments we deem offensive or potentially libelous. You can reach us via WhatsApp +6017-335-1399 or email: asia.samachar@gmail.com. For obituary announcements, click here
