[Normal values of the main stool constituents from age 1 year to puberty (author's transl)].
The daily excretions of the main stool constituents have been measured during 97 balance periods performed in 73 children aged 1 to 17 years and whose digestive functions could be considered as normal. From 1 to 2, 2 to 6, and 6 to 17 years of age, the following values (mean and range) have been obtained: expressed in g/day, for stool wet weight: 61 (33-112), 79 (19-157), 76 (22-166); for nitrogen: 0.49 (0.26-1.06), 0.74 (0.3-2.13), 0.83 (0.3-1.52); for fat: 2 (1-3.6), 1.9 (0.9-3.2), 1.8 (0.6-4.5); expressed in mmol/day for volatile acids: 10.1 (5.2-18), 13.7 (1.8-23.7), 10.1 (3.5-27.5); for Na+ : 0.7 (0.3-1.2), 1 (0.1-3.2), 1.1 (0.1-4); for K+ : 4.4 (3-6.7), 5.1 (1.7-10.4), 5.9 (1.6-11). Only wet weight and nitrogen vary significantly from the first to the second period of age (p less than 0.05 and less 0.01 respectively). Wet weight is highly correlated with volatile acid excretion (p less than 0.001) but weakly linked to fecal fat which implies that the measurement of the percentage of fat in fresh stools is not a correct estimate of their absorption.