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Failure To Thrive is a hold-up in normal increases in height and weight that can lead to delays in the developmental process and normal maturation.
Failure To Thrive is a description of a condition given to babies who are consistently less than the normal weight for their age or who do not gain weight. There could be many causes. Many causes involve social and environmental elements that work together to keep the child from getting the nutrition the child needs. There are times when medical conditions prevent a child from growing normally. Another important contributing factor is the baby's own sensitivities.
When There Are Socio-Environmental Roots For The Failure To Thrive
Many social and environmental elements can be responsible for Failure To Thrive. Parental abuse or neglect, parental emotional health disorders, and disordered family situations in which routine, 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 provide also affects normal growth. Also, inadequate intake of food may reflect inadequate parenting and stimulation from the environment.
When the situation is not based in medical difficulties, this is called Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome. In the recent past, Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome was thought to be caused by abusive parenting. But there are many recent studies which have indicated a growing belief that poor parenting may be an uncommon basis of the condition.
When The Problems Of The Difficulty Are Medical Difficulties
Sometimes Failure To Thrive Syndrome is caused by a medical problem in the child. This is sometimes called Organic Failure to Thrive. The problem can be as simple as difficulty drinking, chewing, or swallowing (as with a cleft lip or cleft palate). Medical problems, such as acid reflux, esophagus narrowing, or intestinal malabsorption, may also affect a child's ability to retain, absorb, or process food. Infection, tumor, metabolic or hormonal disorders (such as cystic fibrosis or diabetes), heart disease, kidney disease, genetic disorders, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection are other physical reasons for Failure To Thrive.
If The Problems Are Based In Responses To Sensitivities and Intolerances
Often an infant's or a baby's Non Organic Failure To Thrive is caused by the baby's defenses responding to normal environmental factors as if those normal things were toxic. This is a sensitivity to or intolerance of some environmental factors which the child's body thinks are toxic.
This response to this "toxic attack" could involve shutting down the child's normal developmental process as a temporary protective tactic until the "toxic attack" stops. 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 child's environment. In this case this temporary protective defensive response continues without stopping. This means that the child's own defenses interrupts the child's normal development indefinitely, because of the child's sensitivities.
Diagnosis For The Problems Based In Medical Difficulties And Socio-Environmental Roots
Doctors diagnose Failure To Thrive when a child's weight or rate of growth is much less than what it should be when compared with former measurements or standard height-weight charts. If the rate of growth is adequate, the child may be small for his or her age but still developing normally.
To find out why a child may be failing to develop normally, doctors ask parents specific questions about feeding, bowel habits, social, emotional, and financial stability of the family, which might affect the child's access to food, and illnesses that the child has had or that run in the family. The doctor examines the child, looking for signs of conditions that could explain the child's growth delay. The doctor makes decisions about blood and urine tests and x-rays based on this initial evaluation. More examinations are performed only if the doctor believes there is an underlying medical condition.
Finding The Child's Sensitivities and Intolerances
There are some published diets ( for instance: Gluten Free and Feingold diets) which attempt to deal with these intolerance 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 tailored for them.
It is best to have a specialist, who knows how to perform this specific test for intolerance, work with your Non Organic Failure To Thrive child to determine your child's precise list of sensitivities. Those who specialize in this testing can include chiropractors, some nutritionists, and other wellness practitioners trained for this specific type of evaluation.
Treatment and Prognosis For The Problems Based In Medical Difficulties And Socio-Environmental Roots
The medical problems and social and environmental causes approach assumes there is something wrong with the child's body or the child's social environment. These treatments are focused on a fault in the child's nutritional processing or access.
Treatment depends on the cause of the difficulty. If a medical problem is found, specific interventions are performed. 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 delivered on a regular schedule. Parents might be counseled about family interactions that are damaging to the child and about social and financial resources available to them. More severe Failure To Thrive Syndrome 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 program to feeding.
Treatment For When The Problems Based Of The Failure To Thrive Syndrome Are In Sensitivities and Intolerances
The interventions for the sensitivities approach is to determine which environmental factors the child is responding to and eliminates those factors from the child's environment. When the child is no longer reacting to those, the normal developmental process re-engages and development can proceed normally. With this intervention, food is absorbed and development and growth starts to catch up. There are specialists in Non Organic Failure To Thrive syndrome who can determine your child's sensitivities and coach you in getting your child back on track.
Summary
The social and 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 child because of some medical problem.
The sensitivities approach for Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome assumes that the child is having responses to environmental factors and these responses are shutting down the normal growth and developmental process.
If you want more information about Failure To Thrive or you would like to communicate with someone about Non Organic Failure To Thrive Syndrome, you will like participating in our free, private Non Organic Failure To Thrive Social Network.
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