A shocking clip has revealed the hidden dangers of children eating marshmallows.
It was shared by the Tiny Hearts Education page on social media, and it shows just how fast one marshmallow can actually choke a small child from 0-3 years of age due to its sticky and hard-to-swallow consistency.
‘While I personally love marshmallows, they are a big no no for our little ones, and this video shows exactly why,’ the mother in the video said.
‘Your average marshmallow’s size is very similar to that of a little one’s (aged 0-3) airway.
‘If swallowed whole, the marshmallow could become easily lodged in the front resulting in a complete obstruction and choking emergency.’
She added that when the treat mixes with saliva, its consistency goes from ‘soft and spongy to sticky’ – meaning that it can be hard to fully swallow.
‘Think of it as trying to eat a heaped tablespoon of peanut butter – not fun,’ the mom said.
Another reason why you should not give the sticky candy to your little ones is that the texture ‘prevents back blows from being effective if a marshmallow was to become lodged in a child’s throat’.
You can watch the video by clicking below.
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However, there is a safe way your child could eat a marshmallow and that is to cut it into little pieces.
Many parents who saw the video say they had no idea about this and thanked the woman for sharing her advice.
One woman said:
‘I never thought about this.’
Another commenter said that her child adores marshmallows, and she has been buying mini versions of the treat, which are less likely to get lodged in the throat.
‘This is good to know, and we’ll remember next camping trip,’ one woman wrote.
‘Guess I’ll be cutting them in quarters then,’ another said.
Here are some facts on choking and what can be done about it
With grown-ups, choking normally happens when a piece of food enters the windpipe instead of the food pipe. Infants and young kids, however, can choke on anything that is smaller than a D-size battery.
Sometimes the windpipe will only be partially blocked, and if the person can still breathe, they will most likely be able to push out the object through a forced cough. However, one must be careful to not push the blockage deeper into the windpipe, so banging on the person’s back while they are upright is out of the question.
If the object fully passes through the airway and the person is unable to breathe, it classifies as a medical emergency. The brain cannot survive for more than a few minutes deprived of oxygen.
The symptoms include clutching the throat, difficulty catching a breath, and bluish lips.
A person who is choking should be kept calm and has to be asked to cough to remove the object, and if that does not work, you should call emergency services. Bend the person forward and give them up to 5 big blows on the back between the shoulder blades with the heel of your hand. After every blow, you should check if the blockage has been cleared.
If the problem still hasn’t been resolved after 5 blows, put one hand in the middle of their back for support. Put the heel of the other hand on the lower half of the central part of the chest (the breast bone). Push the chest hard with a quick upward thrust, as if you’re trying to lift them up. After every thrust, check if the blockage has cleared. If it has not cleared after 5 thrusts, keep on switching between 5 back blows with 5 chest thrusts until medics reach your location.
See Tiny Hearts Education’s Choking First Aid demonstration by clicking below.
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