How to 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 how to 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.