Q1.
How can you avoid choking?
Answer
Eat slowly, take small mouthfuls, chew properly, and never talk, laugh, run or lie down with food in your mouth.
The rules, one by one:
- Take small bites. A big mouthful is the commonest cause of choking.
- Chew every bite properly until it becomes soft mush. Never gulp food down — that is exactly what Amma warned Disha about at dinner.
- Swallow before you speak. Do not talk or laugh with food in your mouth.
- Sit down to eat, upright, at one place. Do not eat while walking, running, playing or lying down.
- Do not eat in a hurry, even when you are late. Give your meal its few quiet minutes.
- Be careful with slippery and hard foods — whole grapes, boiled eggs, big pieces of fruit, nuts, hard sweets, fish with bones. Cut them small and check fish for bones.
- Sip water between mouthfuls if the food is dry.
- Do not laugh at the table when someone has just taken a bite, and do not make a friend laugh while they are eating.
Finding #13: I must eat my food slowly to avoid choking on it.
Why choking happens: Two passages start at the back of the throat — one goes to the stomach and one goes to the lungs. Normally the body closes the second one while we swallow. If we swallow a large or unchewed piece while talking or laughing, that piece can go the wrong way and get stuck. That is choking, and it is frightening because it blocks the breath.
If someone does choke: call a grown-up loudly and at once. Do not slap them on the back yourself and do not try to pull anything out of their mouth — that can push the piece deeper. The fastest help is always an adult.