“My son is not gaining weight. Could it be a hormonal issue?”
My son is 8 years old and is just not gaining weight despite everything that I have tried. He is 48 lb and 50 inches tall. The doctor says it is okay, but as a mother I am worried. Could it be a hormonal issue?
4 Answers
Growth is a good measure of how a child is doing during his childhood and adolescent years. If the growth is optimum then the child may be in good health. Growth rate is also a good indicator of how a child is doing over a given interval of time. Growth is affected by genetics, nutrition, physical and psychological well-being and hormones. Growth can be measured in terms of the child's weight, hieght, head circumference, body proportions, skeletal maturation, teeth eruption etc. If hieght affected, then the child has growth failure. But if only weight is affected in the face of a normal linear hieght growth then the child may have failure to thrive.
In your child's case the height is around 50 percentile and the weight is less than 10 percentile. If he has been mentaining those proportions for a long time, then that may be fine. But if the weight has been falling of the curve over time then he needs to have proper evaluation for medical condition such as celiac disease, anemia, malabsorption, hormones or other medical conditions. You can also try to optimize his calorie intake by giving him more snacks and high calorie diet. The key is talk to your doctor and have the child basic evaluation. If the child is in good health and he mentains the same hieght and weight proportions with out shifting growth centiles, then child may not need any evaluation. Just reassurance
Good luck
In your child's case the height is around 50 percentile and the weight is less than 10 percentile. If he has been mentaining those proportions for a long time, then that may be fine. But if the weight has been falling of the curve over time then he needs to have proper evaluation for medical condition such as celiac disease, anemia, malabsorption, hormones or other medical conditions. You can also try to optimize his calorie intake by giving him more snacks and high calorie diet. The key is talk to your doctor and have the child basic evaluation. If the child is in good health and he mentains the same hieght and weight proportions with out shifting growth centiles, then child may not need any evaluation. Just reassurance
Good luck
Hormonal issues is one cause of poor weight gain. I would ask the doctor to explain why they think your son is okay.
Yes, it could.
Stuart Jay Brink
Endocronologist (Pediatric)
There are many conditions associated with being underweight for height so important to track and plot the weight and height against each other and see if there is some pattern. There are some medications, such as ADD and ADHD medications that block appetite and therefore produce weight loss or too slow weight gain. There are some conditions such as hyperthryoidism or adrenal insufficiency associated with being underweight and correcting the hormone imbalance solves the weight problem. Also conditions such as celiac disease and other stomach and intestinal problems where food is not absorbed correctly. Good and detailed history, family history and physical exam as well as some screening laboratory testis often will point in the direction of making a specific diagnosis as would a detailed food history.
