Welcome to AccessAtlanta!

A description applied to children whose current weight or rate of weight gain is significantly below other children of similar age and sex. Failure to thrive can result from a wide range of causes, including genetic, physical, psychological, or social factors.

Causes and Risks

Failure to thrive in infants and children is usually noticed by failure to gain height and weight. In teenagers, short stature and lack of sexual development is present. There is a wide variation in normal growth and development, and in general, the rate of change may be a better indicator of a problem than the actual measurements.

It is important to determine whether the failure to thrive results from problems intrinsic to the patient or from problems within the environment. Problems intrinsic to the patient are usually medical problems. Problems within the environment are usually psychosocial.

There are multiple causes of failure to thrive that will disturb the body's metabolism enough to result in delayed growth. These include:

Chromosome abnormalities such as Down syndrome and Turner's syndrome
Defects in major organ systems
Abnormalities of the endocrine system, such as thyroid hormone deficiency, growth hormone deficiency, or other hormone deficiencies
Damage to the brain or central nervous system, which may cause feeding difficulties in an infant that result in delayed growth
Abnormalities in the cardiac and respiratory systems, which can result in disturbed mechanisms to deliver oxygen and nutrients to the body
Children with anemia or other blood disorders
Abnormalities in the gastrointestinal system, which may result in malabsorption or absence of digestive enzymes resulting in inadequate nutrition.
Some diseases, such as cerebral palsy, chronic gastroenteritis, and gastroesophageal reflux (usually temporary)

Psychological and social causes may include emotional deprivation as a result of parental withdrawal, rejection, or hostility. Economic factors can affect nutrition, living conditions, and parental attitudes. Environmental factors may include exposure to infections, parasites, or toxins. Sometimes the cause is undetermined.

Risk factors for failure to thrive are related to the causes and may include underlying undiagnosed diseases, poverty, negative emotional environments, and crowded or unsanitary living conditions.

Ency. home > Disease > F > Failure to thrive

[an error occurred while processing this directive]