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Inadequate caloric intake
Sometimes, a child may not be getting enough calories due to various challenges. Common reasons for insufficient caloric intake include:
- Poor appetite or lack of interest in eating
- Pain during eating (due to conditions like GERD or eosinophilic esophagitis)
- Difficulty swallowing (due to coordination issues or neurological concerns)
- Anatomic issues (e.g., cleft lip/palate)
- Chronic heart or lung conditions that impact feeding or digestion
Malabsorption issues
In some cases, even when a child is eating enough, their body may not be absorbing the nutrients properly. This could be for any of the following reasons:
- bowel inflammation (e.g., Inflammatory Bowel Disease, Celiac Disease)
- cystic fibrosis
- pancreatic insufficiency (where the pancreas doesn’t produce enough digestive enzymes)
- food allergies or intolerances
- short gut syndrome or previous major bowel surgery
- metabolic disorders
- immunodeficiencies
- sucrase-isomaltase deficiency (a rare enzyme deficiency)
- renal tubular acidosis (kidney dysfunction affecting nutrient absorption)
Increased Caloric Needs
Certain conditions can increase a child’s caloric requirements. If the body is working harder due to illness or chronic conditions, it may need more energy than normal. Common causes include:
- chronic heart or lung disease
- chronic inflammation (e.g., from autoimmune diseases)
More info about failure to thrive in children
- Failure to thrive, by KidsHealth, The Nemours Foundation
- Nutrition.gov and the Food and Nutrition Information Center by the USDA
- Nutrition4kids.com, a resource for parents who want to feed their kids well, regardless of medical challenges or allergies. Subscribe for updates personalized for you and your child. Relevant posts include: