Failure to thrive in children, mos...

Failure to thrive in children, mostly commonly caused by nutritional factors, is defined using pullulation curves. Children with failure to thrive are identified at a fall across two centile channels or a fall below the other centile for at least three month Family dynamics, parent-child interaction, and household factors appear to play a precipitating part It is not known if maternal depression is associated with failure to thrive. O'Brien and colleagues investigated the relationship between postnatal depression and failure to thrive.

In this case-control close attention the authors used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to evaluate a community-based population. Children younger than couple years who met the criteria for failure to thrive were included in the consideration The authors visited the families at dwelling where the mothers completed the depression scan and a Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Matched have the direction of patients were identified from the same clinic population. Mothers who scored higher than establish threshold values were interviewed to determine whether they had experienced a depressive episode.

The final analysis included 763 children (196 in the index arrange and 567 in the bridle group). Significantly more women in the index arrange scored at or above entrance values on both depression scales compared with the superintend group. A depressive episode was identified in 214 percent of index mothers and 111 percent of sway mothers. In the low-scoring cluster 11.1 percent of index mothers had a depressive episode compared with 42 percent of repress mothers. In the index assemblage the rates of depression were similar whether the children's faltering product was transient or persistent.

The authors infer that depression rates are higher in mothers of children with failure to thrive compared with mothers of children in the normal weight range. They put in mind of that depression affects maternal interaction, which has a negative impact in succession breastfeeding. This study could not establish a causal relationship between postnatal depression and failure to thrive, unless the authors state that their findings warrant screening for postnatal depression. Treatment may improve parent-child interaction, which would benefit the child's nutrition and growth

O'Brien LM et al. Postnatal depression and faltering growth: a community studious mood Pediatrics May 2004;113:1242-7.

COPYRIGHT 2005 American Academy of Family Physicians

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