DistantNews
Support us
🇳🇬 Nigeria /Health & Science

Don’t give children under five adult medicines, paediatricians tell parents

From The Punch · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Pediatricians warn parents against giving children, especially those under five, adult medicines due to immature organs and smaller body size.
  • They caution that administering half an adult dose is a common but incorrect practice that can lead to severe organ damage or adverse side effects.
  • Experts emphasize that children are not small adults and require medication dosages calculated based on their specific age and body size, prescribed by healthcare professionals.

Paediatricians are urging parents to cease administering adult medications to children, particularly those under the age of five, citing the potential for severe organ damage. Their primary concern stems from the fact that children's livers and kidneys are still developing, and their smaller body size makes them more susceptible to the adverse effects of medications.

It is not good practice to give children half of an adult dose of any medication.

— Prof. Olugbenga MokuoluA Professor of Paediatrics at the University of Ilorin, warning against common dosing practices.

The health experts also cautioned against the widespread practice of giving children medications not prescribed by a doctor, including the common habit of administering half of an adult dose. They stressed that children are physiologically different from adults and can react more intensely to medication side effects, such as drowsiness. The advice is to carefully consider a child's age and developmental stage when selecting medication.

The way we calculate the dose of a drug for a child is different from how adult doses are calculated. It is not simply a matter of reducing the adult dose.

— Prof. Olugbenga MokuoluExplaining the principles of pediatric medication dosing.

Professor of Paediatrics Olugbenga Mokuolu from the University of Ilorin highlighted the critical need to warn parents about these potentially harmful practices. He explained that reducing an adult dose by half is an incorrect approach, as drug dosages for children are calculated differently and are related to their body size. Mokuolu stated that the required dose for a child can sometimes be as high as an adult's, depending on individual calculations.

When prescribing medicines for children, we relate the dose to the child’s body size. That is the critical issue.

— Prof. Olugbenga MokuoluHighlighting body size as a key factor in determining pediatric drug dosages.

"The way we calculate the dose of a drug for a child is different from how adult doses are calculated. It is not simply a matter of reducing the adult dose," Mokuolu said. He emphasized that age is a crucial factor, noting the wide age range that constitutes childhood. Therefore, parents should always seek guidance from qualified healthcare professionals to ensure the correct dosage, as there is no universal "half adult dose" that applies to all children.

Sometimes, the dose a child requires may even be as high as the dose an adult takes. It depends on the calculation because every child is different.

— Prof. Olugbenga MokuoluIllustrating that pediatric doses are not always lower than adult doses.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

More Stories

From Our Blog