Clinical approaches to failure to thrive of infants and toddlers: a new paradigm

Jin-Bok Hwang

doi:10.5124/jkma.2012.55.8.770

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Hwang: Clinical approaches to failure to thrive of infants and toddlers: a new paradigm

Continuing Education Column

Journal of the Korean Medical Association

Journal of the Korean Medical Association 2012; 55(8): 770-776.

Published online: 16 August 2012

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5124/jkma.2012.55.8.770

Clinical approaches to failure to thrive of infants and toddlers: a new paradigm

Jin-Bok Hwang, MD

Department of Pediatrics, Keimyung University School of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.

Corresponding author: Jin-Bok Hwang, pedgi@kmu.ac.kr

Received 9 July 2012 Accepted 23 July 2012

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Failure to thrive (FTT) is a term used to describe growth failure in infants and toddlers. The three categories of FTT are based on anthropometric measurements of weight, length, and head circumference for age. Type 1 FTT is the failure to gain weight due mainly to inadequate nutrition. Type 2 FTT is a clinical condition associated with short stature induced by endocrine or genetic factors. Type 3 FTT results from chromosome anomalies or central nervous system abnormalities. Pediatric endocrinologists may be involved in treating patients with short stature of type 2 FTT. Pediatric gastroenterologists may be interested in patients with malnutrition of type 1 FTT, and pediatric psychologists may play a major roll in treating those with non-organic FTT or feeding disorders. This review introduces a new paradigm of clinical approaches to FTT in infants and toddlers to emphasize the importance of multidisciplinary clinical approaches to FTT.

Keywords: Failure to thrive, Infant, Malnutrition, Short stature, Feeding and eating disorders in childhood

Figures and Tables

Figure 1

Three anthropometric categories of failure to thrive using circum, circumference (From Hwang JB. Korean J Pediatr 2004;47:355-361, according to the Creative Commons License) [1].

Figure 2

Major causes in three categories of failure to thrive. GH, growth hormone; IUGR, intrauterine growth retar dation; CNS, central nervous system disease (From Hwang JB. Korean J Pediatr 2004;47:355-361, according to the Creative Commons License) [1].

Table 1

Underlying causes of type 1 category of failure to thrive

From Hwang JB, Korean J Pediatr 2004;47:355-361, according to the Creative Commons License [1].

GERD, gastroesophageal reflux disease.

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