Delayed growth
Alternative names:
FTT, failure to thrive, growth, slow (child 0-5 yrs); weight
gain - slow (in a child 0 to 5 years); slow rate of growth;
retarded growth and development
Definition:
Abnormally slow or little weight
gain in a child between the ages 0 and 5 years.
Considerations:
Delayed or slower than expected growth can be caused by
many conditions, most of which can be corrected if the problem
is recognized and the intervention is timely. Failure to thrive
may be accompanied by withdrawn personality and slow mental,
physical, and emotional development. Genetic diseases and
chronic illness represent a smaller proportion of cause of
FTT. Social and educational causes for FTT are more common
in the U.S. Often, problems with infants can be prevented
or modified with parental education. Expectant parents should
arrange for parenting classes. Also, a child should be taken
in to see the health care provider on a regular basis for
well-baby checkups.
See the information on developmental milestones in the Special
Topics section:
Common causes:
failure to thrive
: Failure to thrive is a term that reflects only the fact
that an infant or young child is not growing and developing
as expected. The term includes all causes and therefore in
the presence of failure to thrive an attempt is made to determine
the cause (make a diagnosis). Failure to thrive is often divided
into two main categories: psychosocial and organic (organic
meaning a condition such as genetic or a disease state). Psychosocial
includes problems relating to socioeconomic status and poverty,
educational level, nutritional deprivation and malnourishment
and environmental factors (such as abuse or neglect, parental
problems such as maternal depression, parental substance abuse,
etc). Organic failure to thrive includes any disease state
such as chronic illness, genetic, metabolic and endocrinological
disorders. (See below)
Psychosocial causes for failure to thrive:
- parental inexperience or lack of appropriate education
(for example: inadequate nourishment from a feeding schedule
that is rigid or allows little sucking time (for infants
less than 1 year being breast-fed) or too much water added
to powdered formula, or water added to ready-to-feed formula
(for infants less than 1 year being bottle-fed
- poverty and malnutrition
- neglect and/or abuse
- mental illness in parent/s
- substance abuse by parent/s
Organic causes for failure to thrive:
Note: There may be other causes of delayed growth. This list
is not all inclusive, and the causes are not presented in
order of likelihood. The causes of this symptom can include
unlikely diseases and medications. Furthermore, the causes
may vary based on age and gender of the affected person, as
well as on the specific characteristics of the symptom such
as quality, time course, and associated complaints. Use the
Symptom Analysis option to explore the possible explanations
for delayed growth, occurring alone or in combination with
other problems.
Update Date: 02/09/00
Updated by: J. Gordon Lambert, MD, Associate Medical Director,
Utah Health Informatics and adam.com
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