|
|
|
by: Li Jin
One of the biggest challenges of parenting is feeding the children. While some
children readily take to a balanced diet like duck to water, others may need
coercing, persuasion or sheer force. Any parent with a picky eater will tell you
how frustrating it can be to be perpetually having meal-time battles with your
child.
Despite that, most children do get past their childhood relatively
well-nourished, indicating that the parents have been over-anxious. However,
when the child starts showing a lack of nutrition, it is a cause for real
concern.
The first sign is usually the absence of weight gain in spite of age. This is
known to dieticians as ‘failure to thrive’, where children have a height and
weight that is 3- 4% lower than expected for someone of the same age.
The condition sometimes corrects itself as the child grows and catches up with
her peers. However, it some cases, the undernourished child may:
•Become disinterested in his or her surroundings
•Avoid eye contact
•Become easily irritable
•Not reach developmental milestones like sitting up, walking, and talking at the
usual age
What’ normal, what’s not
Before you start panicking, you first need to know a child’s normal growth rate.
Generally, babies gain 25 cm in length during the first year, 12.5 cm in the
second year and slow down to about 5-6 cm after the age of 4. After puberty,
growth will increase by 12 cm a year.
Most babies have an average birth weight of 3.3 kg. During the first few days,
there may be a weight loss as a result of the loss of excess fluid. Weight gain
is regained after the second week, becoming double of the birth weight by the
time the baby reaches 4 months, and triple by the time the baby reaches his
first birthday.
Breastfed babies would tend to be gain less weight than bottle-fed babies. Also,
parents who are small in size will also have babies who are smaller than
average. The first year is crucial for baby to develop as his brain grows as
much during that one year alone as during the rest of his life. Insufficient
nutrition during this period will have permanent negative impact upon the
child’s mental development.
What causes failure to thrive
On the surface, failure to thrive looks like a simple case of a picky eater who
starves himself to the point of malnourishment. However, it can be caused by a
multitude of causes, which include:
•Difficult parent-child interactions
•Lack of support (no friends, no extended family)
•Family dysfunction (divorce, spouse abuse, chaotic family style)
•Difficult child
•Emotional deprivation syndrome
•Feeding disorders (poor sucking skills, refusal to eat, failure to recognize
hunger, anorexia, bulimia)
•Poor absorption of nutrients in breastfeeding mother
•Problems with renal, endocrine, metabolic or heart
•Has trouble eating – probably because of prematurity or a cleft lip or palate
•Has trouble with absorption
•Milk protein allergy, making many foods inaccessible to the child
•Infections- parasites, urinary tract infections and tuberculosis places great
energy demands on the body
•Metabolic disorders- Makes it difficult for the body to break down, process, or
derive energy from food, which makes the child feed poorly or vomit.
What can be done? Failure to thrive is very much a psychosocial problem, as
eating is an important social activity. If you suspect that your child is not
thriving, first see an occupational therapist or speech therapist to check if he
has a food aversion or difficulty swallowing.
If everything is normal, try making meal-times more pleasant. Here are some
tips:
1.Avoid bribing or forcing your child to eat. It makes meal-times a time to
dread.
2.Eat together. Seeing adults enjoy eating and socializing during meals helps
children develop good eating habits.
3.Set a schedule for meals and snacks. Don’t give your children anything to eat
too close to meal times, even a small piece of candy.
4.Avoid offer any drinks before or during meals. Drinks should be taken after
they have eaten.
About The Author
Parenting2u.com is an unique online resource for parents and parents-to-be, with
up-to-the-minute information and entertainment they want and the sense of
community they crave—all based on the power and knowledge of Parenting and
Babytalk brands.
The author invites you to visit:
http://www.parenting2u.com
Article Source: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/parenting/article_2430.shtml
Tags: Help- My
Baby Is Not Growing -
Help-
My Baby -
Not Growing |
