Development Flashcards
WHO recommends which form of feeding for the first 6 months of life?
Exclusive breast milk (EBM)
What are the benefits of breastfeeding?
- reduced infections in neonatal period
- better cognitive development
- reduced risk of SIDS
- reduced risk of obesity
- reduce breast cancer and ovarian cancer risk in the mother
What are the feeding volumes in babies?
Titrated up across the first week of life as tolerated, to target of 150ml/kg/day.
This is initially split between feeds every 2-3 hours, then to 4 hours and longer.
Eventually babies transition to feeding on demand.
What is the acceptable rate of initial weight loss in babies?
Lose up to 10% of body weight in the first 5 days.
However, they should regain their birth weight by day 10.
What is the most common cause of excessive initial weight loss in babies?
Dehydration due to under feeding.
The most reliable sign of dehydration in babies is weight loss - even when they do not clinically look dehydrated.
When does weaning begin?
At around 6 months of age, babies are gradually transitioned from milk to normal food.
It starts with pureed foods that are easy to palate, and gradually progresses towards a healthy diet resembling an older child.
Until the age of 1 year, this can be supplemented with milk and snacks.
What is plotted on growth charts?
- weight
- height
- head circumference
against normal distribution for their age and gender.
What are the phases of growth?
1) First 2 years
2) 2 years to puberty
3) During puberty
a) rapid growth driven by nutritional factors
b) steady slow growth
c) rapid growth spurt driven by sex hormones
What factors have contributed towards an increase in childhood obesity?
Increased access to readily available, affordable, high calorie foods. This leads to the overconsumption of calories.
There has also been a shift from physical activities and outdoor play, to sedentary activities such as video games and screens.
Define
a) overweight
b) obesity
in children.
a) above the 85th percentile for BMI
b) above the 95th percentile for BMI
What are the effects of childhood obesity?
- bullying and psychosocial consequences
- impaired glucose tolerance
- T2DM
- cardiovascular disease
- arthritis
- cancer
What is failure to thrive?
The poor physical growth and development in a child.
NICE (2017) definitions of failure to thrive.
Fall in weight across:
- one or more centile spaces if birthweight was below the 9th centile
- two or more centile spaces if their birthweight was between the 9th and 91st centile
- three or more centile spaces if their birthweight was above the 91st centile
What is a centile space?
The distance between two centile lines.
For example, if the initial weight of a child is plotted halfway between the 9th and 25th centile lines, and several months later is plotted halfway between the 2nd and 9th centile lines, they have dropped a full centile space.
What are the broad categories of failure to thrive?
- inadequate nutritional intake
- difficulty feeding
- malabsorption
- increased energy requirements
- inability to process nutrition
Causes of inadequate nutritional intake.
- maternal malabsorption if breastfeeding
- iron deficiency anaemia
- family or parental problems
- neglect
- availability of food (i.e. poverty)
Causes of difficulty feeding.
- poor suck
- cleft lip or palate
- abnormal facial structure
- pyloric stenosis
Causes of malabsorption.
- cystic fibrosis
- coeliac disease
- cows milk intolerance
- chronic diarrhoea
- inflammatory bowel disease
Causes of increased energy requirements.
- hyperthyroidism
- congenital heart disease
- cystic fibrosis
- malignancy
- immunodeficiency
Causes of inability to process nutrients properly.
- inborn errors of metabolism
- T1DM
How is a child failing to thrive assessed?
- pregnancy, birth, developmental and social history
- feeding or eating history
- observe feeding
- mum’s physical and mental health
- parent-child interactions
- height, weight and BMI
- calculate mid-parental height centile
Define mid parental height.
(height of mum + height of dad) / 2
Outcomes from assessment that suggest inadequate nutrition or a growth disorder are?
- height more than 2 centile spaces below the mid-parental height centile
- BMI below the 2nd centile
NICE (2017) recommend which investigations for failure to thrive?
- urine dipstick (?UTI)
- coeliac screen (anti-TTG / anti-EMA antibodies)
Focused investigations should be considered where additional signs or symptoms suggest an underlying diagnosis.
How can difficulty breastfeeding be managed?
Support from midwives, health visitors, peer groups and lactation consultants.
Supplementation with formula milk.
Where inadequate nutrition is the cause of failure to thrive, what is the management?
- encourage regular structured mealtimes and snacks
- reduce milk consumption to improve appetite for other foods
- review by dietician
- additional energy dense foods to boost calories
- nutritional supplement drinks
Where other measures fail and there are serious concerns, NG feeding may be considered.
Define short stature.
Height below the 2nd centile average for their age and sex.
How can a child’s predicted height be calculated? (M)
(mother height + father height + 14cm) / 2
How can a child’s predicted height be calculated? (F)
(mother height + father height - 14cm) / 2
Causes of short stature.
- familial short stature
- constitutional growth delay
- malnutrition
- coeliac disease
- IBD
- hypothyroidism
- Down syndrome
What is constitutional delay in growth and puberty?
A normal variation in development, leading to short stature in childhood compared to peers, but normal height in adulthood.
Puberty is delayed and the growth spurt during puberty lasts longer.
How is constitutional growth delay diagnosed?
History and examination, supported by an x-ray of the hand and wrist to assess bone age.
What are the four major domains of child development?
- gross motor
- fine motor
- language
- personal and social
Gross motor development in children.
4 months
Able to support head and keep it in line with the body.
Gross motor development in children.
6 months
Maintain a sitting position, however may be unbalanced.