What is failure to thrive (poor weight gain)?
Failure to thrive is defined as when an infant or child fails to grow physically, and their growth measurements are substantially below what they should be for their age and gender.
Generally, failure to thrive will be diagnosed when a child’s growth measurements fall below the 3rd percentile, or when their growth progress drops two percentiles, for example from the 75th percentile to the 25th.
Failure to thrive may be due to any number of different reasons, health conditions or genetic disease.
Understanding growth and weight gain/loss-related symptoms and features
Symptoms may affect multiple parts of the body. Understanding which part of the body a symptom affects, can help us to better understand the potential underlying causes of a symptom, including a rare disease or genetic syndrome.
Symptoms that affect the growth and or weight gain/loss of an individual may also affect the ability of their body to function properly. This might affect their movement, their brain development and the other organs of their body including the heart.
Growth charts help to track a child’s physical development, including weight and height, and flag any issues or concerns. An issue with under or overgrowth may be the result of an underlying medical condition or may trigger a secondary medical problem. In some cases, a physical growth problem may be due to environmental factors, including under or overfeeding.
Symptoms relating to physical growth may be many and wide-ranging. They can include a walking delay, issues with speech and language including late talking, trouble socializing with others or with showing emotion.
What should I do next?
In some instances, failure to thrive may be one of the features of a rare disease or genetic syndrome. To find out if someone with Failure to Thrive, may be due to a genetic syndrome, it is important to have a consultation and evaluation with a clinical genetic specialist. Specialists may also suggest specific genetic testing or other types of tests to help reach a diagnosis. FDNA’s AI technology can help speed up the diagnostic process by analyzing facial features and other health information.