What is flattering growth?

What is flattering growth?

The term ‘faltering growth’ is used to describe a pattern of slower weight gain than expected for age and sex in infants and preschool children, and it is most often due to inadequate nutritional intake. Faltering growth is complex and often multifactorial. Parents may feel ‘blamed’ for their child’s slow weight gain.

How is growth faltering assessed clinically?

Definitions. Weight faltering is defined as weight falling through centile spaces, low weight for height or no catch-up from a low birth weight. Growth faltering is defined as crossing down through length/height centile(s) as well as weight.

How do you stop growth faltering?

Do NOT stop feeding • Offer small, frequent meals • Offer age-appropriate food • Foods better tolerated: mealie meal porridge, oats, mashed potato, soft veg, soft apple, pear, banana, chicken breast, yoghurt and maas, soups.

What is weight faltering?

Weight faltering, or failure to thrive, is a childhood condition that provokes concern about possible neglect, deprivation, and organic illness.

What causes faltering growth?

Faltering growth is most commonly caused by inadequate nutrition. A range of factors can be responsible, including: Ineffective suckling or bottle feeding. Feeding aversion.

What is growth faltering caused by?

After birth, growth faltering is caused by inadequate caloric intake, normal caloric intake in an environment of excessive loss or malabsorption; or increased metabolic needs. In cases of dehydration or acute illnesses like gastroenteritis, fluid loss that exceeds fluid intake may also lead to significant weight loss.

What causes faltering growth in babies?

What causes growth faltering?

What is failure to thrive in newborns?

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 the third percentile (as outlined in standard growth charts) or 20 percent below the ideal weight for their height.

What does FTT stand for in medical terms?

Failure to thrive (FTT) is a term that is traditionally used for children who have failed to develop and grow normally. In general practice, FTT is commonly used for any child who fails to gain weight or height according to standard medical growth charts.

What causes babies failure to thrive?

Failure to thrive is slow physical development in a baby or child. It’s caused by a baby or child not having enough nutrition. A child with FTT is at risk for problems such as short height, behavior problems, and developmental delays.

What is failure to thrive in babies?

Children are diagnosed with failure to thrive when their weight or rate of weight gain is significantly below that of other children of similar age and sex. Infants or children that fail to thrive seem to be dramatically smaller or shorter than other children the same age.

What is faltering growth in children?

The term ‘faltering growth’ (previously called ‘failure to thrive’) is widely used to refer to a slower rate of weight gain in childhood than expected for age and sex. The term faltering growth is preferred as periods of slow growth may represent temporary variation from the expected pattern and the word ‘failure’ may be seen as pejorative.

When do babies start to falter in weight?

Mean weights start to falter at about 3 months of age and decline rapidly until about 12 months, with a markedly slower decline until about 18 to 19 months and a catch-up pattern after that. Growth falter- ing in weight for length/height is restricted to the first 15 months of life, followed by rapid improvement.

Are abused or neglected children at increased risk of faltering growth?

However the study of Skuse and colleagues⁷ found that children with faltering growth were four times more likely to be abused than controls. Therefore, abused or neglected children are probably at increased risk of faltering growth, but this group only comprise a small proportion of all cases.

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