All issues > Volume 37(4); 1994

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1994;37(4):464-471. Published online April 15, 1994.

A Study on Non-Organic Failure to Thrive Infants

Keun K Lee¹

¹Department of Pediatrics, Ewah Womans University, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Failure to thrive(FTT) is defined when the weight of a child is below 3rd percentile or when there is sudden weight loss in history. If organic cause of the weight loss is not found, it is called non-organic failure to thrive (NETT). Relatively little attention has been paid to NFTT in Korea for various reasons and the incidence is not known. 25 NFTT infants, aged 3 to 36 months, and 25 controls, matched by age and sex of the infants and age and education of the mothers, were studied through interviews, questionnaires and MMPI. None of the NFTT and control infants had signs of developmental delay on Korean DDST, but the NFTT babies had more negative attitudes toward foods and were viewed by their mothers as more 'difficult' compared to the controls. Screenings of home situations were similar in both groups. There was no difference in reports of mothers' childhood, marital status, mental states or current relations with extended family members. Analysis of MMPI of mothers of NFTT babies showed lower T-scores in Hs (hypochondreiasis) and Hy (hysteria) and higher in Mf (masculinitty-feminity) scales than those of mothers of the controls. But most the scores of MMPI of mothers within normal limits.
Conclusion
Multiple factors seem to play roles in the development of NFTT, the babies' attitudes toward foods and temperament being the major ones. The relative importance of any single factor varies according to each particular infant. Contrary to the findings of other English reports, mothers' mental status was found to play negligible role in the development of NFTT in this study.

Keywords :Non-organic failure to thrive, Mothers