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Failure to thrive in babies and toddlers

Lay Hoon Goh1, Choon How How2, Kar Hui Ng3,4

  • 1Division of Family Medicine, Department of Medicine, National University Health System, Singapore.

Singapore Medical Journal
|June 30, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Failure to thrive (FTT) in children means not growing as expected. In Singapore, malnutrition from psychosocial factors is the most common cause, requiring early detection and monitoring by family doctors.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Child Health
  • Growth and Development

Background:

  • Failure to thrive (FTT) is defined as inadequate physical growth in children.
  • Diagnosis involves serial growth measurements using age-appropriate centile charts.
  • Normal growth variants include premature infants with appropriate velocity, catch-down growth, constitutional delay, and familial short stature.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To outline the definition, diagnosis, and common causes of FTT in children.
  • To highlight the role of family physicians in managing FTT.
  • To emphasize the importance of ruling out child neglect or abuse.

Main Methods:

  • Review of diagnostic criteria for FTT.
  • Analysis of common etiologies of FTT in the Singaporean context.
  • Discussion of management strategies and complications.

Main Results:

  • Malnutrition due to psychosocial and caregiver factors is the leading cause of FTT in Singapore.
  • 'Picky eating' is prevalent and managed with an authoritative feeding style.
  • Iron deficiency is the most frequent complication.

Conclusions:

  • Early detection, timely treatment, and monitoring of catch-up growth are crucial.
  • Family doctors are central to the management of FTT.
  • Other causes like malabsorption, congenital conditions, and child neglect/abuse must be considered.

Keywords:
constitutional growth delayfamilial short staturefussy eatermalnutrition

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