Faltering growth (failure to thrive)

Faltering growth, also known as failure to thrive (FTT), is when there is a failure to grow at the expected rate (i.e. growth ‘falls away’ from standardized weight or height centile). Weight is the most sensitive indicator in infants and young children, whilst height is a better in the older child. Under stress, head circumference growth is more preserved than linear growth, which in turn, is more than weight gain.

In infancy, birth weight reflects the intrauterine environment. It is a poor guide to the child’s correct ‘genetic potential’ and weight may naturally fall until the correct ‘level’ is attained. In a well, happy child consider constitutional small stature (characterized by normal growth velocity in a healthy child of small stature parents).