Question: What is Poo?

Poo started off as food!

Whenever you eat food, your body takes out all the good things that it needs to grow, learn and play. Even if you eat a really healthy diet, your body will not need all of the things you eat. All of the bad things and the things it doesn't need are formed into poo. This poo then leaves your body from your bum!

Poo is mostly made from water, but you can't drink it! More than half of your poo is made from water. The longer your poo stays in your body, the less water it will have, since your body absorbs the water from the poo. If it stays for too long it will become harder and difficult to push out. It is important to try and go for a poo when you feel you need to.

Other than water, your poo also contains solid material. A lot of it is bacteria that your body uses to help digest the food. It also contains fats and other material that your body is getting rid of.

The poo also contains 'fibre'. Fibre helps the poo to travel easily through your body. The fibre comes from types of food that you have eaten, such as fruit, vegetables, good quality bread and cereals.

Even though poo started off as food, you must not eat it. The bacteria and other things in poo can make you very poorly if you eat them. It also doesn't taste very nice!

Remember: Good healthy food, makes a good healthy poo!