What is Failure to Thrive?

I learned about Failure to Thrive when we were in our initial stages of adopting our first son from Russia as many children from Russia fail to gain the appropriate weight and fail to grow in height. Much of that is due to malnutrition, parasites, and even Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

In the United States Failure to Thrive happens because of chronic medical problems suc as reflux, dysphasia, malabsorption from allergies or celiac disease, or even diabetes. Poverty also plays a very important role in FTT.

FTT is a term used to define children who are not gaining weight normally. These children have a weight that is below the 3rd or 5th percentile for their age and they are not gaining the way they are expected to gain.

When we adopted AJ, our oldest son, he was at the 3rd percentile in weight. However, because he was institutionalized we did not really worry about this. I took him to the pediatrician yesterday and he was in the 25th percentile for weight and 10th for height (always been lower in height). So, we know he is growing and that he is healthy.

Children normally grow at a rate of about 30 g (1 ounce)/day in early infancy (birth to 3 months) and this then slows to about 20 g/day from 3-6 months and to only 12-15 g/day in later infancy (6 – 12 months). Older children grow even more slowly, with toddlers (1-3 years) growing, at about 8 g/day, and preschool age children at about 6g/day.

Many children between the ages of 6 and 18 months move up or down on their growth percentiles, but by 24 months, most children follow their growth curve and stay on the same percentile or growth channel.

To see National  Center for Health Statistics Growth Charts…