The case of the swallowed chewing gum

This matter needs to be taken seriously.

LAHORE:

One of the perks of living in a country like Pakistan is that, for most of us, childhood is a magical time when we are seemingly invincible. We, the super-children, eat mud, chalk and toothpaste and suck on electronics. We stand fearlessly on the front seat of a speeding car without a seat belt; some of us have even learnt to shrug off moderate-intensity electrocutions. And, last but not the least, we swallow plenty of chewing gum.

Chewing gum, in its original form, is believed to go back to the Stone Age. And somewhere along the course of its long history, the myth that ‘swallowed chewing gum will sit in your stomach for seven years’ materialised — a myth that has been quite widespread in the West. Recently, following various cases of gastroenterologists debunking this myth in the US, the notion of swallowing chewing gum being harmful has become much less pronounced and even a joking matter. More careful research, however, will reveal that even super-children should not be fed chewing gum if they are in the habit of swallowing it.

A publication from the American Academy of Pediatrics, titled Chewing Gum Bezoars of the Gastrointestinal Tract, reports several cases of children between the ages of one-and-a-half-years and four-and-half-years with a history of chronic constipation that would not be alleviated by standard procedures or treatments. After proceeding with a ‘manual disimpaction’ (you’ll have to be imaginative here), the physician found what was described as ‘multiple spheres of chewed gum congealed into a multi-coloured rectal mass’ and that ‘the rainbow of fused, multi-coloured gum fragments in the removed fecoma is easily recognised by physician and family as old gum.’ The otherwise healthy four-and-half-year old boy in this case, was in the habit of swallowing his customary five to seven pieces of chewing gum per day.

This is called a ‘bubble-gum intestinal bezoar.’ While in most cases chewing gum, which is composed in large part of indigestible materials, will appear in the toilet in a matter of days when swallowed, very frequent ingestion or swallowing a large number of pieces at once can couple with other foreign materials such as hair and lead to a blockage in the digestive tract. Younger children are particularly at risk due to the fact that their intestines are of a smaller diameter and parents and teachers are not infrequently in the habit of using chewing gum as reward for good behaviour.

The American Academy of Pediatrics is unequivocal: chewing gum should not be swallowed and not given to children who cannot understand this point. And children with chronic constipation should have this avenue explored as a part of their medical history.

Thus, while most of us managed to make it through just fine, the next generation of super-children have additional evils such as load-shedding to contend with. Let’s be on the safe side and remove swallowing chewing gum from the equation.

The author is involved in a project called Scholars by Profession. Please visit their Facebook page for further details.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2013.                

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