Constipation is one of the most troublesome and bemusing problems and its therapy may be very difficult in many children. In the USA children with constipation
amount to 5% of patients in general pediatric health care centers, 25% of patients in gastroenterology wards and 45% of patients in highly specialized
centers.
Primary (functional) constipation accounts for 95% of cases. Only 5% of cases of constipation have organic causes, such as Hirschsprung disease, food allergy,
celiac disease, cystic fibrosis, intestinal pseudo-obstruction, cerebral palsy, hypothyroidism, amyloidosis, diabetes, anorexia nervosa, depression, exposure
to opiates or other pharmaceuticals.
Adequate consumption of fluids and fibers, both soluble and insoluble, as well as correct defecating position, play an important role in prevention of constipations.
Stool withholding behavior is an important factor in the development of constipation in most pediatric patients. The risk of its development is
affected by child’s family’s socioeconomic status and its functioning, opportunities for relaxation at home and possibilities of using school toilets.
Taking those factors into account and preventing constipation helps avoiding patient’s exposure to negative reactions of family members and friends, resulting
from soiling, which is a result of prolonged and untreated constipation in children.

Vitamin K constitutes collective name for a group of micronutrients – naphtoquinones of natural origin, which feature as a principal biological activity posttranslational carboxylation of glutamic acid residues in proteins acting as clotting factors. Lack of vitamin K leading to spontaneous hemorrhaging is rare,
because of ubiquitous presence of phylloquinone in plants, except for newborn and breast-fed infants, for which vitamin K deficiency bleeding is potentially
life treating. This paper explains biogenesis of naphtoquinones and discuss their biological roles in humans. Finally, sources of vitamin K active substance(
s) for supplementation, with focus on chemical synthesis, are presented.

Lens acts as an important transmitter of light on its way to retina. This feature is assured by the structural nature of transparent lens and its abilities to
accomodate. The loss of clearness causes opacification of lens – cataract. Cataract can occur in every stage of life. Ethiology of cataract is very diversified.
Inborn cataract is genetically conditioned and present from the moment of birth. Age-related cataract emerges around 50th year of life and occurs in the
highest percentage. Environmental factors, genetic disorders, different disease conditions both general and related to vision organ can contribute to the
development of cataract. Prevention of cataract includes: medical education, evaluation of exposition to risk factors, awareness of environmental dangers
contributing to creation of cataract, preventing diseases causing cataract, its proper diagnosis and treatment.

Pneumococcal infections are dominant health problem of the populations of all continents. Around the world diseases associated with
a pneumococcal infections are the cause of death of approximately 1.6 million people a year, including approximately half a million children
under 5 years of age. The cause of these deaths is mainly pneumonia, rather that the much less common invasive pneumococcal disease
(IPD). Children up to 2 years of age could be protected against IPD with two conjugate vaccines. PCV10 and PCV13 vaccines cover respectively
48.7% and 74.4% of all IPD cases up to 2 years of age (www.koroun.edu.pl). However, for the protection against pneumococcal pneumonia,
sinusitis and recurrent acute otitis media (AOM) mucosal immunity is required. PCV13 vaccine provides protection of the mucous membranes,
in particular by reducing pneumococcal carriage, thereby inhibiting the spread of infection to the entire population. This results in a decrease
in the incidence of invasive and non-invasive pneumococcal infections in all age groups – vaccination produces herd immunity. On the other
hand, introduction of universal vaccination with the PCV10 vaccine, which has a limited ability to reduce the carriage, is the cause of increased
infections with antibiotic-resistant 19A serotype in the population of patients over 2 years old, observed in countries where PCV10 is administered.
The Paediatric Group of Experts on the Protective Vaccinations Programme by the Minister for Health recommends that the PCV13 vaccine be included
in the mandatory vaccinations programme in children up to 2 years of age, considering the widest range of protection that it provides as well as the
health benefits for the whole unvaccinated population.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a disease characterised most commonly by chronic cough and shortness of breath on exertion, determined
by permanent and usually progressive restriction of air flow through the respiratory tract. COPD is an inflammatory disease with complex pathoge-
-nesis and its risk factors can occur even from perinatal period through developmental age. Therefore, it seems reasonable to early identify risk factors and
to encourage educational activities, implementation of the principles of prophylactics with necessity to eliminate passive and active smoking, encouraging
physical activity and following a healthy diet, improving environmental conditions, as well as monitoring of respiratory function in children and young
adults at risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The proper way of nutrition is a condition of maintaining oral health. Dietary mistakes may cause or contribute to the prevalence of dental, mucosal and
periodontal disorders. On the basis of literature the importance of dietary factors in etiology of oral diseases has been presented. The attention has been
drawn to the influence of the direct contact of food with oral mucosa and teeth tissue.

An adequate vitamin D intake and its status are important not only for bone health and Ca-P metabolism, but for an optimal function of many organs
and tissues throughout the body. Vitamin D supplementation is recommended across a whole lifecycle in case of insufficient skin synthesis or vitamin
D intake from diet. Currently available recommendations of vitamin D deficiency prophylaxis may help medical professionals with reducing this
overall health care problem.

Vitamin K supplementation regimens are present in many countries in order to prevent vitamin K deficiency bleedings (VKDB). However, optimal dosing
and administration route of vitamin K are still unclear. VKDB risk is especially high in breastfed infants with cholestasis. Danish and Dutch registries of patients
with biliary atresia allow a comparison of efficacy of the countries’ prophylactic regimens in this high-risk population.