You often hear it from grandparents: “The child is much too thin”. This sentence makes many parents thoughtful, and one begins to find out what height or weight is still within the normal range. Roughly speaking, if the longitudinal growth is appropriate, the body is not lacking in energy. Especially children between 5 and 6 years of age have a natural low at this age, where you can really ‘count the ribs’. But when does it become a failure to thrive? What do doctors do in such a case? How can my child still get enough nutrients? I have collected some information here:
What is a failure to thrive in children?
Failure to thrive stands for a number of childhood developmental disorders. It often refers to a delayed physical development, which can frequently also be accompanied by motor and psycho-social deficits.
If children are not thriving, it may be related to the fact that they are either not eating enough, consuming more calories than they are getting from food, or are unable to utilize the food sufficiently. Diseases can also be the reason here:
- Metabolic diseases (e.g., diabetes)
- Diseases that negatively affect food intake or digestion (celiac disease, chronic intestinal inflammation, pyloric stenosis, reflux disease, food allergy, etc.)
- Chronic inflammation (e.g., rheumatic or autoimmune diseases)
- Severe organ disorders (e.g., kidney or liver diseases, etc.)
- Stress for the child (at home, crises in the family, etc.)
- Eating disorders
What does the doctor do in the case of a failure to thrive?
In order to determine the exact reason for a failure to thrive, the doctor will first try to assess the entire environment. Thus, the growth progress of the last months and years is examined in detail. The child is thoroughly examined, possibly with stool, urine, and blood tests. A good option is also to create a nutrition diary. Give the doctor all information about the course of the pregnancy, the birth, or what your child eats and drinks, or what they refuse. The family situation should also not be underestimated; is there stress for the child, or were there any problems? Such psychosocial discrepancies can also trigger failure to thrive.
How does my child still get enough nutrients?
Usually, a failure to thrive is a concomitant symptom of an underlying disease, so the therapy of this disease is the top priority. To prevent malnutrition and ensure the child can really consume enough nutrients, an increased food intake is a good option.
There are various providers for enteral nutrition and tube feeding, one of which is Nutrini:High-calorie nutrition for children. Depending on the illness, enteral nutrition can be given in addition to normal nutrition or exclusively. It is important that children need a completely different diet than adults, so that oral and tube feeds should be tailored to children's requirements. Nutricia offers special oral and tube feeds, as well as the associated application technology, based only on the latest scientific findings and recommendations. In addition, an experienced nutrition team is available to answer any questions professionally.
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