Diagnose Failure to Thrive in a Child
Failure to thrive is a descriptive term rather than a diagnosis. There are several definitions, but all of them assess this condition by measuring a child's growth against a predicted baseline over time. Failure to thrive is a common condition and accounts for up to 5 percent of hospital admissions among patients younger than 1 year old. Here's diagnose failure to thrive in a child.
Instructions
1. Take careful measurements of the child's height, weight and head circumference and plot them against a growth chart. This should be done routinely at each doctor's office visit so that any trends may be easily detected.
2. Obtain the prenatal history, including the mother's history of alcohol consumption, illnesses, medications and smoking during the pregnancy.
3. Gather the patient's history in the nursery, especially dietary history. A bottle-feeding infant's expected intake of formula can be calculated by multiplying its weight in kilograms by 5 to yield the daily amount in ounces.
4. Check the formula preparation. If a dietary history is unavailable, the parents may need to keep a food diary for up to three days. Improperly prepared formula, especially in regard to electrolyte balances, is a common cause of failure to thrive in children.
5. Identify the cause of the failure to thrive as organic, inorganic or both. Organic causes may be generally categorized as complications from a premature birth or inadequate nutrition. Inorganic causes of failure to thrive are generally caused by environmental or social factors.
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