Failure To Thrive is a hold-up in normal physical development which could be the precursor to delays in the normal developmental process and normal maturation.
Failure To Thrive Syndrome is a diagnosis given to infants who are consistently less than the normal weight for their age or who do not gain weight. There are many reasons for this. Many causes involve socio-environmental factors that interact to keep the child from having the nutrition the baby needs. Often, medical conditions prevent a baby from growing normally. Another significant cause is the infant’s own sensitivities and intolerances.
When There Are Socio-Environmental Issues For The Failure To Thrive
Many socio-environmental factors can be a part of Failure To Thrive. Parental neglect or abuse, parental emotional health difficulties, and disorganized family situations in which regular, nutritious meals are insufficiently provided, may all block a child’s appetite and food intake. The amount of money a family makes available for food and the nutritional value of the food they provide also affects normal development. Also, inadequate food intake may be a symptom of poor parenting and not enough environmental stimulation.
When the problems are not based in medical problems, this condition is called Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome. In the recent past, Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome was thought to be caused by poor parenting. But there are recent articles which have shown a growing understanding that poor parenting may not be a common root of the condition.
When The Roots Of The Difficulty Are Medical Disorders
Sometimes Failure To Thrive Syndrome is caused by a medical difficulty in the child. This is sometimes called Organic Failure to Thrive. The issue can be as minor as difficulty drinking, chewing, or swallowing (as with a cleft lip or cleft palate). Other medical problems, such as gastroesophageal reflux, esophagus narrowing, or intestinal malabsorption, may also affect a child’s ability to retain, absorb, or process food. Infection, tumors, metabolic or hormonal disorders (such as cystic fibrosis or diabetes), heart disease, kidney diseases, genetic disorders, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are other medical reasons for Failure To Thrive.
When The Problems Are Based In Reactions To Sensitivities
Sometimes an infant’s or a baby’s Non Organic Failure To Thrive is brought on by the baby’s defenses reacting to normal environmental factors as if those normal things were toxic. This is a sensitivity to some things in the environment which the child’s body thinks are toxic.
This response to this “toxic attack” could include shutting down the infant’s normal developmental process as a temporary conservation tactic until the “toxic attack” stops. And, because these environmental factors are not toxic to others, the family and the medical professionals do not know to eliminate these “toxic” factors from the baby’s environment. In this case this short-term protective defensive reaction continues on an ongoing basis. This means that the child’s own defenses suspends the child’s normal developmental process indefinitely, because of the child’s sensitivities and intolerances.
Diagnosis For The Issues In Medical Problems And Social And Environmental Causes
Doctors indicate that a child has Failure To Thrive when the baby’s weight or physical development is well below what it should be when compared with past measurements or standard age-height-weight charts. If the physical development is adequate, the baby may be small for his or her age but still growing normally.
To find out why a infant may be failing to thrive , medical practitioners ask the parents specific questions about feeding, bowel habits, social, emotional, and financial stability of the family, which might affect the child’s access to nutrition, and illnesses that the infant has had or that run in the family. The doctor examines the child, looking for signals which may explain the baby’s delay in development. The doctor makes decisions about blood and urine tests and x-rays based on this evaluation. More extensive testing is performed only if the doctor thinks there is an underlying medical condition.
Finding The Child’s Intolerances
There are some published diets ( for instance: Gluten Free, Casein Free, and Feingold diets) which attempt to address these intolerance and sensitivity issues. These diets function well for those children who are intolerant of the things which are specifically restricted by these programs. But, for the majority of Non Orhanic Failure To Thrive children whose sensitivities are affecting their development and growth, these diets are inappropriate and not specifically designed for them.
It is best to have a specialist, who knows how to perform this specific test for sensitivity, work with your Non Organic Failure To Thrive child to determine your child’s precise list of intolerances. Those who perform this kind of testing can include some chiropractors, some nutritionists, and other wellness practitioners trained for this type of evaluation.
Treatment and Prognosis For The Causes In Medical Disorders And Social And Environmental Causes
The medical problems and socio-environmental issues approach assumes there is something wrong with the infant’s body or the child’s social environment. These interventions are focused on a fault in the baby’s nutritional processing or nutritional access.
Treatment intervention depends on the cause of the problem. If a medical disorder is found, specific interventions are performed. Otherwise, treatment depends on how far below normal the baby’s weight is. Mild to moderate Failure To Thrive is treated with high-calorie nutritious feedings taken on a regular schedule. Parents may be counseled about family interactions that are damaging to the child and about social and financial resources available to them. Severe Failure To Thrive Syndrome is treated in the hospital where nutritionists, social workers, feeding specialists, psychiatrists, and other specialists team together to determine the most likely causes of the child’s Failure To Thrive and the best approach to feeding.
Treatment For When The Issues Of The Failure To Thrive Syndrome Are In Sensitivities
The interventions for the sensitivities and intolerances approach is to determine which things in the environment the child is reacting to and eliminates those from the infant’s environment. When the baby is no longer reacting to those environmental factors, the normal developmental process re-engages and growth and development can proceed normally. With this approach, food is absorbed and growth and development starts to catch up. There are specialists in Non Organic Failure To Thrive syndrome who can determine your child’s intolerances and sensitivities and coach you in getting your child back on track.
Summary
The socio-environmental approach for Non Organic Failure To Thrive children assumes that something is wrong in the child’s social environment in such a way that nourishment is not available or is not accepted by the child.
The medical problems approach for Organic Failure To Thrive infants and children assumes that nourishment is not being processed and absorbed by the infant because of some medical difficulty.
The intolerances and sensitivities approach for Non Organic Failure To Thrive for a baby assumes that the child is having reactions to environmental factors and these defensive reactions are shutting down the normal development and growth process.
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