Feeding disorder of infancy and early childhood

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A feeding disorder of infancy or early childhood is the failure of a young child to obtain adequate nutrition, which is reflected by weight loss or a failure to gain weight appropriately for development.

Feeding disorders are diagnosed when the infant or young child appears malnourished and the problem is not caused by a medical condition (such as cleft palate, congenital heart disease, or chronic lung disease), or a disorder that causes mental retardation.

The cause of these disorders is often unknown, but they can result from a variety of factors such as poverty, dysfunctional child-caregiver interactions, or parental misinformation about appropriate diet to meet the child's needs.

Review Date: 12/06/2006
Reviewed By: Ian Marshall, MD, Division of Pediatric Endocrinology, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.