What is Failure-to-Thrive?

Failure-to-thrive is a term used to describe a child who is not growing as expected. But, it is not the same as normal growth in a child who is small for his or her age. The exact definition is not completely agreed upon.

In general, failure-to-thrive means that a child:

• Is at or below the 3rd to 5th percentile for height and weight, or
• Has failed to grow as expected, as shown by dropping two growth percentiles (For example, the child goes from the 75th percentile to below the 25th percentile.)

Types include:

• Organic failure-to-thrive-caused by some other medical condition
• Nonorganic failure-to-thrive-occurs in children with no known medical condition
• Mixed failure-to-thrive-occurs when the child has features of both organic and nonorganic failure-to-thrive