ABSTRACT
Failure to thrive is the term used when a child fails to gain weight at the expected rate. Diagnosis is based on serial measurements and the child’s weight is seen to fall across the centiles on a growth chart. The term is usually reserved for growth in pre-school children, particularly under 2 years of age. Growth at this age is almost entirely dependent on nutrition, and the causes of undernutrition may be organic or non-organic. A combination of factors may be responsible for failure to thrive, but many community-based studies have shown that <10% of cases have an organic basis. Approximately 20% of babies who are born small for dates due to intrauterine growth retardation do not show ‘catch up’ postnatal growth and remain small. However, these children tend to gain weight at an appropriate rate, parallel with but below the normal centiles, so they are not failing to thrive.
