Should children and mothers fast?
Donya Betancourt, Pediatrician, drdonya@hotmail.com
During Ramadhan, it is often asked why Muslims do fasting and the answer is, they do it to please Allah.
What is fasting? According to Webster's Dictionary, to fast is to abstain from food; to omit nourishment in whole or in part; to go hungry, to practice abstinence as a religious exercise or duty; to abstain from food voluntarily for a time, for the mortification of the body or appetites, or as a token of grief, of humiliation and penitence. To eat sparingly and only of a specified food.
As this definition implies, the Islamic fasting is total abstinence from any food particles passing through the mouth or nose, as well as drinks of any kind like water, milk or juices along with abstinence from sexual association during the day that commences from the break of dawn until sunset.
The issue of fasting is a sensitive one particularly for pregnant and nursing mothers and children. What happens when the body fasts from food?
The body works by using complex substance storage. Fasting begins when carbohydrate stores (mostly glycogen) are depleted. This happens within 12-24 hours. Fasting can continue as long as fat stores remain to be metabolized for fuel. This is usually five to six weeks for the average person. Longer for the obese, shorter for the malnourished.
If fasting lasts longer than the fat stores rapid autolysis of protein structures occurs. This is called starvation. Only during starvation is protein being stripped from healthy tissue to be used to survive. This may take 30 to 80 days. Various hormones come into play during an extended fast. Fasting is not starvation. People can go without food for as long as 75 days but they have to drink water.
Should pregnant women and nursing mothers fast?
When a pregnant woman or nursing mother eats, they do eat for the health of themselves and their babies. By Islamic law their decision to fast depends on how they feel. If they feel that fasting may jeopardize their life and injure the unborn or newly born, the lawgiver gives them permission to eat. They will have to make it up at another time after Ramadhan but before the next Ramadhan.
What about puberty and what ages should they start fasting? Puberty is known in Islamic law as the coming of age for a man or woman.
There are three signs of puberty. This indicates the age of 15 is the legal age for a Muslim boy or girl to be responsible for his or her religion as well as worldly responsibilities. Girls reach puberty and adulthood when they experience menstruation. Whenever a girl experiences it, she is a woman even if she is 12 years old. They should fast as they believe. Children (who have not hit puberty) are not commanded to fast. However, the Islamic law, their parents or guardians are strongly recommended to encourage them to fast for at least a few days so they get used to it and they grow up knowing of the worship of fasting as they would know that of praying.
There are many ways to educate children about Ramadhan, the best and most important of which is to set a good example by fasting properly. For those who are still young let them fast a day or two and praise them in front of friends and relatives for their achievement.
One can debate that only 12-14 hours of fasting is probably just like sleeping. I personally think that if you fast in the daytime and don't have to work of course it would be like sleeping. But for Ramadhan, people have to continue doing their work as usual and have to sleep during the night to get up and work the next day.
For children and pregnant woman by law they don't have to fast and I think they should not fast because they need their energy and food to support their work and concentration during the day.
If they really want to fast I think they should do whatever they prefer and believe in, but I do hold concerns about hydration and would like to see any child fasting also taking in plenty of water.
There is no right or wrong in opinions but if any of my writing in here is not appropriate I do apologize.