To gather current evidence on the use of fiber for constipation treatment in pediatric patients.
Systematic review with meta-analysis of studies identified through Pubmed, Embase, LILACS and Cochrane databases published up to 2016.
Randomized controlled trials; patients aged between 1 and 18 years and diagnosed with functional constipation receiving or not drug treatment for constipation; articles published in Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, and German in journals accessible to the researchers.
A total of 2963 articles were retrieved during the search and, after adequate evaluation, nine articles were considered relevant to the study objective. A total of 680 children were included, of whom 45% were boys. No statistical significance was observed for bowel movement frequency, stool consistency, therapeutic success, fecal incontinence, and abdominal pain with fiber intake in patients with childhood constipation. These results should be interpreted with care due to the high clinical heterogeneity between the studies and the methodological limitation of the articles selected for analysis.
There is a scarcity of qualified studies to evaluate fiber supplementation in the treatment of childhood constipation, generating a low degree of confidence in estimating the real effect of this intervention on this population. Today, according to the current literature, adequate fiber intake should only be recommended for functional constipation, and fiber supplementation should not be prescribed in the diet of constipated children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate food intake according to the degree of processing, stratified by family income and age, in a representative sample of children younger than 6 years in the city of Pelotas, RS, Brazil.
METHODS: Cross-sectional population-based study carried out with 770 children aged 0-72 months of age living in the urban area of Pelotas. The dietary intake of children was assessed by 24-h recall administered to mothers or guardians. The energy intake was estimated and each food item was classified according to the food processing degree. Food consumption was stratified by age (younger than 24 months; 24 months or older) and associations between quintiles of family income and relative contribution of each food to total energy were performed by linear regression. The Wald test was applied to test linear trend across groups.
RESULTS: The mean energy intake was 1725.7kcal/day. The mean contribution of processed and ultraprocessed foods was 19.7% among children younger than 24 months and 37% in those aged 24 months or older, while the mean consumption of natural and minimally processed food was 61% and 44%, respectively. Among children aged 24 months or older, a greater consumption of canned foods, cheese and sweets was observed as family income quintiles increased, while breads were more consumed by those children belonging to the lower income quintiles.
CONCLUSIONS: A high caloric contribution of ultraprocessed foods in detriment to a lower consumption of natural and minimally processed foods was observed in the diet of children younger than 6 years.