The arrival of New Year’s Eve is surrounded by a festive atmosphere in which grapes cannot be missing to be eaten to the sound of each bell and welcome the new year with the greatest of enthusiasm. Evening party, toasts, food, music, dancing and more toasts. However, health experts warn that we should not let our guard down, especially with the youngest and oldest in the house because there are certain risks that we have to keep in mind to avoid scares that can be serious.
The warnings come first with a food that will be on all Spanish tables: grapes. From the Spanish Society of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery (SEORL-CCC) They warn that children under five years old should not eat grapes due to the risk of choking or suffocation.
They claim that their size, slippery skin and juice inside mean that the grapes can be swallowed without chewing and cause blockage of the airways, preventing the child from breathing. For this reason, this organization recommends that when they are offered to older children, they be skinless, seedless, and cut into pieces (avoiding cutting them into slices).
Nor should this fruit be replaced by eating nuts, popcorn, candies or chocolate chips to welcome the year 2025, as they can be equally dangerous, since the hard fragments that come off when bitten can clog the veins. respiratory tract. Nuts should be offered ground to children under five years of age.
In the case of those over 65 years of age and patients with dysphagia, grapes can also be dangerous. They explain that the incidence of asphyxiation is seven times higher in elderly people than in children aged 1 to 4 years, according to a review published in the journal Geriatrics.
The Emergencies and Health Sciences unit of UNIVERSAEa global network of educational institutions, also joins the warnings and encourages families to take precautions this New Year’s Eve. They invite constant attention, key to avoiding scares. “It is important to be very aware of children and the elderly during meals and dinners, so we can identify any type of complication in advance, since, in these situations, time plays a key role,” they point out.
They also recommend:
Eat slowly and without distractions. In a festive atmosphere, it is easy to neglect eating habits. Talking and laughing while chewing increases the risk of food slipping the wrong way. Therefore, it is essential to enjoy food slowly, making sure to chew correctly before swallowing.
Knowledge takes no place: the Heimlich maneuver. It is essential that all people know how to apply this maneuver. It is a simple movement in which you have to press the body of the person who has choked from behind, push the upper part of the belly (upper abdomen) until the object that is obstructing the airways comes out.
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