Dr Ashok Kapse

Chickenpox compicated with severe secondry skin infection
REASON
Child can not be given bath nor can be taken to Doctor before Matani pooja is done.
Parents moving in big cars carrying Iphone.
When would our society chane?

CHILDREN CHOCOLATE & COLD/COUGH

Sir please don't give her chocolate

Rajani's parents almost shouted at me.

I give an Éclair chocolate to all children who come to me for consultation that way I make them happy & friendly and they let me examine them without fuss and crying; Rajani_5yrs sweet kid was brought to me for recurrent bouts of cough and cold, I was about to put chocolate in her hand & was rebuked by her parents.

On detailing parents told that child falls sick twice every month and keeps coughing during nights even when she is supposed to be well, Grandfather is a chronic smoker and as child is extremely attached to him spends lot of time with him.

I asked them how many chocolates Rajani eats every day; not a single one in last six months; then why do you blame chocolate I asked, if chocolates were the cause then child ought to have been trouble free with this stringent restriction ; parents had no answer.

The fact is Rajani had an asthmatic constitution & her cough aggravation is due to constant smoke exposure"

This is almost a daily affair in my consulting room. Parents often blame food or chocolate or ice-cream for their child's sickness while in reality some or other house hold pollutant like smoking, perfume, agarbatti, or mosquito repellents are often the cause of child's cough and cold.

"Do chocolates really have any cough inducing substances"

Well if you analyze chocolates they contains milk powder, coco, & sugar; none of these things are harmful, we happily give Bourn vita or such similar drinks as health building drinks which almost have similar ingredients, why then society at large has such opposition to chocolates. unfortunately certain chocolates, toffees contain coloring and flavoring agents many of them are substandard and could act as allergen or toxicants harming child's throat;" of course such things should be avoided", a good quality pure milk chocolate is hardly harmful, child can eat it without fear of respiratory illnesses.

I would like to reiterate that it is bad polluted air which is the usual cause of cold and cough rather than wrongly believed food items like curd, banana, oranges etc.

Disclaimer:
I may not be misunderstood post is just to dispel wrong concept that chocolate cause cold and cough, I do not advocate Chocolates as substitute for food.