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Growth faltering: how to catch up?

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 64, page S1 (2010)Cite this article

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Faltering growth is a common paediatric problem with many untoward effects. Recent studies show that children who failed to thrive in infancy are lighter and shorter at school age with adverse intellectual outcomes (Corbett and Drewett, 2004; Black et al., 2007; Emond et al., 2007; Kar et al., 2008). Weight faltering in the first few months of life is particularly associated with these adverse effects. These infants also have a higher prevalence of feeding problems.

Growth failure is more common during infancy than during any other stage of life, because programmed growth rates and therefore nutritional needs are high. Adolescence is another period of rapid growth when nutrition is critical.

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References

  • Black MM, Dubowitz H, Krishnakumar A, Starr RH (2007). Early intervention and recovery among children with failure to thrive: follow-up at age 8. Pediatrics 120, 59–69.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Oxford University Department of Paediatrics, Oxford Children's Hospital, Oxford, UK

    P B Sullivan

  2. Department of Paediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology & Nutrition, Hospital Necker-Enfants Malades, University of Paris, Paris, France

    O Goulet

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  1. P B Sullivan
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  2. O Goulet
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Correspondence to P B Sullivan.

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Competing interests

PB Sullivan has received consulting fees from Danone Limited, lecture fees from Nutricia Ltd and grant support from Numico Research Foundation. O Goulet has received lecture fees from Nutricia/Danone and is also negotiating a grant with Fresenius Kabi.

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Sullivan, P., Goulet, O. Growth faltering: how to catch up?. Eur J Clin Nutr 64 (Suppl 1), S1 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.37

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ejcn.2010.37

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