Failure to Thrive in Children

Abstract

Optimal nutrition in early infancy is the success behind good health, growth, and development of children. This article presents an overview of failure to thrive in children younger than 2 years of age. This article reviews normal growth, growth indices, common etiology, and an approach to evaluation and management of failure to thrive.

Growth and growth biomarker changes after adenotonsillectomy: systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Neither paediatric primary care providers97 – 102 nor specialists in genetics,103 gastro-intestinal104 105 or endocrine106 subspecialties routinely include upper airway obstruction, or adenotonsillar hypertrophy, in their differential diagnosis of growth failure in general, or short stature in particular. Our findings suggest that primary care providers and specialists consider SDB when they screen, treat and refer children with growth failure.…”

Growth failure and sleep disordered breathing: A review of the literature

“…Only half of pediatricians surveyed identify a relationship between poor growth and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) [14]. Pediatric subspecialties in genetics [15], GI [16,17], and endocrine [18] do not routinely include such an assessment in their differential diagnosis of GF either. This is not surprising, given that the underlying cause of GF is nearly always attributed to under-nutrition, despite multiple biologically plausible pathways from SDB to GF.…”

Nutritional approach to failure to thrive

“…A combination of anthropometric criteria, rather than one criterion, should be used to more accurately identify children at risk of FTT. Weight for length is a better indicator of acute under-nutrition and is helpful in identifying children who need prompt nutritional treatment6). This is an index of fat stores that defines whether a patient suffers from acute malnutrition.…”