Encopresis is the soiling of the underwear
with stool by children who are past the age of toilet training.
Because each child achieves bowel control at his or her
own rate, medical professionals do not consider stool soiling
to be a medical condition unless the child is at least 4
years old. This stool or fecal soiling usually has a physical
origin and is involuntary—the child does not soil on
purpose. A large amount of hard stool is in the intestine,
and stool leaks around this mass and out through the anus.
In the United States, it is estimated that
1-2% of children younger than 10 years are affected by encopresis.
Many more boys than girls experience encopresis; approximately
80% of affected children are boys.
