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Failure to thrive Health Article

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Definition

Failure to thrive is a description applied to children whose current weight or rate of weight gain is significantly below that of other children of similar age and sex.

Alternative Names

Growth failure; FTT

Causes, incidence, and risk factors

Infants or children that fail to thrive seem to be dramatically smaller or shorter than other children the same age. Teenagers may have short stature or appear to lack the usual changes that occur at puberty. However, there is a wide variation in normal growth and development.

In general, the rate of change in weight and height may be more important than the actual measurements.

It is important to determine whether failure to thrive results from medical problems or factors in the environment, such as abuse or neglect.

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

Other factors that may lead to failure to thrive:

  • Emotional deprivation as a result of parental withdrawal, rejection, or hostility
  • Economic problems that affect nutrition, living conditions, and parental attitudes
  • 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.

Symptoms

Infants or children who fail to thrive have a height, weight, and head circumference that do not match standard growth charts. The person's weight falls lower than 3rd percentile (as outlined in standard growth charts) or 20% below the ideal weight for their height. Growing may have slowed or stopped after a previously established growth curve.

The following are 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)

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Reviewer Info: Deirdre O?Reilly, MD, MPH, Neonatologist, Division of Newborn Medicine, Children?s Hospital Boston and Instructor in Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts. Review Provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.; ADAM Health Illustrated Encyclopedia, 09/28/2007
 
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