Definition
- Abnormal pattern of weight gain in children < 2 years
- Growth pattern irreconcilable with a predetermined standard for age
- Weight consistently < 80% of the median for age
- Weight on > 1 occasion falling below the 3rd percentile for age
- Weight that has fallen across 2 major percentiles on the National Center for Health Statistics standard growth charts
- Social Security Administration definition
- A drop in weight to below the 3rd percentile
- In children < 2 years, drop in weight to < 75% of the median weight-for-height or age
- When acute malnutrition results in decreased weight-for-age, the condition is referred to as wasting.
- If caloric deprivation is prolonged, then it will eventually affect the child’s linear growth as well, at which point the child is said to be stunted.
- Abnormalities in linear growth not accompanied by wasting (the child who has short stature alone) are not failure to thrive.
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