End of the year grapes, a danger for the little ones
Who would not want the best for theirs in the new year? Attracting good luck is an issue that many want and tradition indicates that eating 12 grapes it is one of the ways fortune enters the home. However, in some circumstances this dozen can cause some other problem causing the effect to be the opposite of the desired one.
This is what a study of the emergency department of the Royal Pediatric Hospital of Aberdeen. This research warns that the smallest of the house can choke when eating the 12 grapes at the end of the year, especially those who are less than five years old and who are not yet able to chew correctly.
Grapes: a danger that goes unnoticed
According to the coordinators of this study, parents often monitor their children's meals, from the ingredients that make up their menu to the way they are taken. However, in the case of the 12 grapes at the end of the year, this danger seems to go unnoticed. Many parents do not know the risks that can bring this dozen of fruits for the smallest of the house.
According to these experts, the majority of detected cases of choking related to grapes have a common pattern: they had not chewed well. The researchers who analyzed the suffocation cases caused by this food compare this fruit with the small pieces of many toys that can be introduced into the mouth and cause an obstruction that prevents the passage of air.
Many children, especially children under five, still do not master the act of chewing correctly. Reason why in cases of scarce food size, as the grapes are swallowed instantaneously without having pressed this food with the teeth, which can suppose a choking that is capable of causing the death of the child.
Speed and agility: the twelve grapes of luck
In addition, the moment of the 12 grapes has an added risk of not dominating the jaw: rush. Eating one of these fruits with each stroke is an act that implies speed and agility. Two skills that many children do not have, so the rush of these moments to complete in the required time makes it more likely that the child swallows one of these pieces.
In case you want to share the moment of the 12 grapes with your children, remember that there are two keys for everything to go perfect: vigilance and tranquility. Attentive to the child and what he does, remind him that he should chew everything that gets in his mouth and that there is no need to run in this act. If instead of fulfilling this tradition at 12 o'clock at night is done at 12 and 10 minutes nothing happens, luck it will be the same inside the home.
It is also advisable to choose grapes from smaller size for the children of the house and look for products that lack seeds, which can also choke the children.
Damián Montero
