부산대학교 도서관

Non-organic failure to thrive is a pediatric social illness characterized by little or no weight gain (weight, height and head circumference below the third percentile) and developmental retardation. In addition, failure to thrive babies often appear lethargic, irritable and resist closeness. The condition is seen as related to defective mother/infant bonding, maternal depression and/or poor feeding techniques. Treatment usually seeks to remediate these problem areas through intervention either in the home or at an alternate site such as a medical foster home or specialized day care program. This article discusses home visiting and out-of-home models of intervention for failure to thrive, using as examples Project Thrive and the Rainbow Family Learning Center, respectively. The paper will also present the diagnostic criteria used to determine which families and babies will be best served by the different modalities. Case examples illustrate the types of families served by each program and the course of their treatment.