Treatment of Failure to Thrive | Unique children's clinic and Dental Implant Center

Failure to thrive refers to children whose current weight or rate of weight gain is much lower than that of other children of similar age and gender. Causes Failure to thrive may be caused by medical problems or factors in the child’s environment, such as abuse or neglect.

There are many medical causes of failure to thrive. These include:

• Problems with genes such as Down syndrome

• Organ problems

• Hormone problems

• Damage to the brain or central nervous system, which may cause feeding difficulties in an infant

• Heart or lung problems, which can affect how nutrients move through the body

• Anemia or other blood disorders

• Gastrointestinal problem that make it hard to absorb nutrients or cause a lack of digestive enzymes

• Long-term (chronic) infections

• Metabolism problems

• Problems during pregnancy or low birth weight

Factors in the child’s environment include:

• Loss of emotional bond between parent and child

• Poverty

• Problems with the child-caregiver relationship

• Exposure to infections, parasites, or toxins

• Poor eating habits, such as eating in front of the television and not having formal meal times

Many times the cause cannot be determined Children who fail to thrive do not grow and develop normally compared to children of the same age. They seem to be much smaller or shorter. Teenagers may not have the usual changes that occur at puberty.

Symptoms of failure to thrive include:

• Height, weight, and head circumference do not match standard growth charts or are 20% below the ideal weight for their height

• Growth may have slowed or stopped

Children who fail to thrive may have the following delayed or slow to develop:

• Physical skills such as rolling over, sitting, standing, and walking

• Mental and social skills

• Secondary sexual characteristics (delayed in adolescents) Babies who fail to gain weight or develop often lack interest in feeding or have a problem receiving the proper amount of nutrition. This is called poor feeding.

Other symptoms that may be seen in a child that fails to thrive include:

• Constipation

• Excessive crying

• Excessive sleepiness (lethargy)

• Irritability

Treatment depends on the cause of the delayed growth and development. Delayed growth due to nutritional problems can be helped by showing the parents how to provide a well-balanced diet. Other treatment depends on how severe the condition is.

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