What Causes Poor Weight Gain In A Child?

Posted on Sun, 18 Jun 2017

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sun, 18 Jun 2017 Answered on

Tue, 4 Jul 2017 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi Dr my daughter is 10.5 mnths old and is not gaining weight since the last 3mnths. She gains few grams and then looses it. Her birth weight as on 5th Aug-16 was2.6kg and her weight as of now is 6.7kg. She turns 6.9 and then bounces back to 6.7. Her diet has gone low and she has bot been eating anything lately except for my feed. After consulting the doc, she told me it is because of teethin. Her 4 teeth hav com full fledged, 2 hv com half and rest 2 r in process. We also got her haemogram done and found her haemoglobin is 11.7 which is again nothing to worry about. She oderwise is vry active, playful and can also walk now with support. But my only concern remains that she is nit eating anything because of which she isn't gaining weight.Pls help.

Answered by Dr. Diptanshu Das (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Weight gain is saltatory and not continuos

Detailed Answer:
Thanks for asking on HealthcareMagic.

I have gone carefully through your query and understand your concerns. Let me tell you that the birth weight of a child doubles by 5 months and triples by 10-12 months of age. So, overall the weight is on track. Let me also tell you that growth is saltatory or discontinuous i.e. proceeding by leaps rather than by gradual transitions. So, if the weight is static I would not really worry about it. A 100-200g fluctuation would be acceptable and nothing to be concerned about. Although the hemoglobin level is lower normal it is not something to be concerned about. Nevertheless, I would insist on iron supplementation.

The eating habits can vary and children can be fussy or picky eaters. Teething can be a factor. I would insist you to go through the following chart about what foods to give at what age:
http://www.superbabyonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Baby-Food-Chart-4-to-12-months-baby-SuperBaby.jpg

You can also post a query to dietitian on HealthcareMagic and she will provide a detailed diet chart.

Let me know if I could help further.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj