More than 44,000 children were admitted to hospital with constipation last year, according to NHS figures that highlight the potentially serious health consequences of the condition.
Data for England reveals a 60% rise in hospital diagnoses of constipation in primary schoolchildren in the past decade, with increases also seen in preschool and secondary age groups. Experts say greater awareness is needed of the physical harm and misery that can be caused by the condition, which is sometimes trivialised.
