LL4: Physical Development
Growth Faltering
The definition for "growth faltering" is an infant's failure in growing normally characterized by weight, height, and head circumstances substantially below age-related norms and by withdrawn, apathetic behavior, with a disturbed parent-infant relationship often a contributing factor.
Causes of Growth Faltering
*The child's food energy intake being not so sufficient for the growth's biological needs as a result of the child being undernourished.
*Child having an increased food energy requirement because of an underlying medical condition
*Gastrointestinal disease, neurological disorder or a congenital heart disease would be the causes of growth faltering in 5%.
*Most majority of reasons concerning under nutrition can possibly be in relation to having trouble feeding the child, social/emotional problems (parent-child relationships) or other illness
Here are the signs to look for when dealing with growth faltering:
For infants:
-Intrauterine growth retardation
-Congenital disorders
-Physical illness
-Feeding difficulties
-Sleep difficulties
For children in Early Childhood
-Domestic violence
-Single motherhood
-Alcohol and Drug Abuse
-Psychiatric illness including attachment disorder
-Smoking, alcohol, or medication use during pregnancy
How to respond after seeing the signs the first time?
*Plot and interpret measurements so that the abnormal growth patterns are easily identified
