The main anxiety of young parents, growth retardation concerns children who are below the so-called standard size and weight standards. How to diagnose and manage it to best support your child? Learn to understand and analyze this developmental anomaly.

We speak of stunting when a child’s height and weight are both below the “normal” curves calculated for age and sex. However, many children are born each year with so-called abnormal growth and not all are affected by growth retardation. This is for example the case for premature babies, necessarily born with a weight and a height well below the average expected for a newborn. It is therefore really important to take into account all the data before concluding such a result and to study the growth since the birth of the baby and not according to standardized data.

If the diagnosis is made and it is really stunted growth, it means your child is not getting enough calories for their daily needs and will therefore be very difficult to grow and to develop properly. So you have to act quickly.

The causes can be very numerous and related to different events and antecedents:

• Poor feeding of the child: preparations too liquid and too diluted, difficulties during breastfeeding (bad position, difficult sucking of the baby, etc.);
• Severe gastroesophageal reflux disease, food allergies, or diseases preventing proper absorption of nutrients;
• Stressed and anxious parents who cause the same emotions in the baby or who are uncomfortable about feeding their child. Forcing food is never good and can even cause eating disorders, including in the youngest
• Drugs, hormonal disorders or emotional deficiency in more extreme cases.

After having imposed a detailed questionnaire on you and carried out a complete examination of the child, the doctor can establish this diagnosis and look for the cause. With the help of specialists, such as nutritionists or child psychiatrists, for example, he will be able to relearn the child to eat properly and adopt the right behaviors when it comes to eating.

For your part, to encourage and help him increase his daily calorie intake, respect the different meals of the day (full breakfast, lunch then dinner) and set fairly regular schedules. Make these moments moments of exchange and discovery and do not hesitate to vary the menus and bring them a little originality with colors and fun and original presentations. However, avoid distractions during meals (television, toys, etc.) and eat as a family. It is important that the meals are friendly and cheerful so as not to generate additional stress for the child, so you need to discuss pleasant topics and avoid blame at these times of the day.

If it is difficult for your child to eat, split the nutrient intake by offering several snacks during the day, but always away from the main meals and do not let him snack on anything and everything. You can also offer him small amounts that you will gradually increase according to his progress so as not to discourage him.

Also limit drinks during the day, especially fruit juices and sodas and offer foods from the four basic food groups at each meal: animal proteins, raw vegetables, vegetables and starches.

Finally, do not force him to eat or praise him if he swallows enough food. No need to draw attention to normal or even banal behavior at the risk of accentuating the problems later. You can also let him decide how much he wants to eat and remove the plate after a while if he stalls and does not want to swallow anything. But, again, avoid commenting with criticism.

If growth retardation can be remedied and resolved with good medical care, the role of parents and siblings remains the most important. With supervision, goodwill, and a lot of love, this anomaly should soon be a thing of the past.