Understanding Failure To Thrive In Children
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Failure To Thrive is a delay in normal physical development that could lead to delays in the normal developmental process and normal maturation.
Failure To Thrive is a description of a condition given to children who are consistently less than the normal weight for their age or who do not gain weight for unclear reasons. Many causes involve social and environmental elements that interact to keep the baby from having access to the nutrition the child needs. Often, medical issues prevent a baby from growing normally. Another significant cause is the child’s own intolerances and sensitivities.
If There Are Environmental And Social Based Problems
Many socio-environmental elements can be involved in Failure To Thrive. Parental neglect or abuse, parental mental health disorders, and chaotic family situations in which regular, nutritious meals are insufficiently provided, may all interfere with a child’s appetite and intake of food. The amount of money a family makes available for food and the nutritional value of the food they buy also affects normal development. Also, inadequate food intake may be a symptom of inadequate parenting and not enough environmental stimulation.
When The Problems Are Medical Problems
Sometimes Failure To Thrive Syndrome is caused by a medical disorder in the infant. The issue can be as simple as difficulty drinking, chewing, or swallowing (as a child might have with a cleft lip or cleft palate). Medical difficulties, such as gastroesophageal reflux, narrowing of the esophagus, or intestinal malabsorption, may also affect a child’s ability to obtain nutrition from food. And, other medical problems such as infection, tumor, hormonal or metabolic disorders (such as cystic fibrosis or diabetes), cardiac problems, kidney disease, genetic disorders, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are other physical reasons for Failure To Thrive.
When The Causes Are Based In Sensitivities and Intolerances
And, sometimes child and infant Failure To Thrive is caused by the infant’s body responding to normal things in the environment as if those normal things were toxic. This is a intolerance of some things in the environment which the child’s body thinks is toxic.
This response to this “toxic attack” could be shutting down the baby’s normal developmental process as a temporary protective measure until the “attack” goes away. But, because these environmental factors are not toxic to others, the family and the medical professionals do not know to eliminate these “toxic” things from the baby’s environment. In this case this temporary conservation defensive response continues on an ongoing basis. This means that the infant’s own defenses interrupts the baby’s normal development indefinitely, because of the child’s intolerances.
Diagnosis For The Problems Based In Medical Problems And Social And Environmental Roots
Doctors diagnose Failure To Thrive when a infant’s weight or physical development is much less than what it should be when compared with former measurements or standard age-height-weight charts. If the physical development is adequate, the child may be small for his or her age but still growing appropriately.
To find out why a infant may be failing to grow , medical practitioners ask the parents specific questions about feeding, bowel habits, social, emotional, and financial stability of the family, which might affect the infant’s access to nutrition, and illnesses that the baby has had or that run in the family. The medical practitioner examines the child, looking for signs of conditions that might explain the child’s growth delay. The doctor makes decisions about blood and urine tests and x-rays based on this evaluation. More extensive examinations are performed only if the doctor believes there is an underlying medical condition.
Determining The Child’s Sensitivities
There are some published diets (GFCF Diet and Feingold Diet) which attempt to address these sensitivity issues. These diets work well for those children who are sensitive to the things which are specifically restricted by these programs. But, for the majority of children whose sensitivities and intolerances are affecting their growth and development, these diets are incomplete and not specifically tailored for them.
It is best to have a specialist, who knows how to perform this specific test for intolerance, work with your child to determine your child’s precise list of intolerances. Those who specialize in this testing can include chiropractors, nutritionists, and other wellness practitioners trained for this specific type of evaluation.
Treatment and Prognosis For The Causes In Medical Difficulties And Social And Environmental Roots
The medical difficulties and socio-environmental issues approach assumes there is something wrong with the child’s body or the child’s social environment. These interventions are focused on a problem in the baby’s nutritional processing or nutritional access.
Treatment depends on the cause of the difficulty. If a medical problem is found, specific treatment is given. Otherwise, treatment depends on how far below normal the child’s weight is. Mild to moderate Failure To Thrive is treated with high-calorie nutritious feedings provided on a regular schedule. Parents could be counseled about family interactions that are damaging to the child and about financial and social resources available to them. Severe Failure To Thrive is treated in the hospital where nutritionists, social workers, psychiatrists, feeding specialists, and other specialists work together to determine the most likely causes of the child’s Failure To Thrive and the best approach to feeding.
Treatment For The Causes In Sensitivities and Intolerances
The interventions for the sensitivities and intolerances approach is to determine which things in the environment the baby is responding to and eliminates those from the infant’s environment. When the infant is no longer reacting to those, the normal process of development re-engages and development can proceed normally. With this intervention, food is absorbed and development gets back on track. There are specialists in Failure To Thrive syndrome who can determine your child’s sensitivities and intolerances and coach you in getting your child back on track.
Summary
The environmental and social approach assumes that something is wrong in the baby’s social environment in such a way that nourishment is not available or is not accepted by the baby.
The medical problems approach for Failure To Thrive infants and children assumes that nourishment is not being processed and absorbed by the child because of some medical disorder.
The intolerances approach for Failure To Thrive children assumes that the child is having defensive reactions to environmental factors and these reactions are shutting down the normal growth and developmental process.