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Lung is often in insufficiency
肺常不足 〔肺常不足〕 fèi cháng bù zú
The lung tends toward vacuity; a feature of child pathology. Young children have weak bowels and viscera; their physical body and qì are not yet replete; and their yīn and yáng are still immature. When yīn and yáng are both frail, resistance to disease is low. Inability to adjust to heat and cold and irregular feeding cause increased susceptibility to invasion of the six excesses or dietary damage. For these reasons, externally contracted disease, and morbidity of the lung and spleen are common in small children. The lung governs qì and is in charge of breathing; it is connected with the skin and body hair. Since the external defense of children is insecure, evils easily enter the ligature of the lung (the nose, throat, and windpipe). Hence, coughs and colds are very common. The spleen and stomach are the root of later heaven (the acquired constitution); they move and transform the grain and water (food) and distribute its essence; hence they are the source of qì and blood formation. Splenic movement and transformation tend to be underdeveloped in children, which makes it difficult to the supply the essence of grain and qì needed for healthy growth and development. Thus children often suffer from dietary damage causing accumulation and stagnation, retching and vomiting, and diarrhea. The lung is dependent on the spleen for nourishment; hence The spleen engenders flesh, and flesh engenders the lung.
When spleen qì is strong, the essence of grain and water flows up into the lung, and so the strength of lung qì relies on the later-heaven qì of the stomach and spleen. See lung pattern identification.