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Why Isn't My Child Gaining Weight?
Hitting child development milestones is important. But being on the lower end of the growth chart isn’t necessarily cause for concern.
Center for Pediatric Nutrition
Our child nutrition experts offer the most advanced, personalized care available, including for complex feeding issues.
Nutrition issues can be some of the scariest situations for a parent to face. At our Center for Pediatric Nutrition and in our related centers, programs and clinics, we treat all child nutrition issues, from children living with overweight and obesity to feeding difficulties and complex swallowing disorders. Through our Center of Pediatric Nutrition and related centers, programs and clinics, we offer the latest evidence-based diagnosis and treatment options to optimize your child’s growth and development.
Pediatric Advanced Feeding Therapy
Child nutrition issues: Why choose Henry Ford Health?
- All ages: We treat nutrition issues in all children, from infants and toddlers to adolescents.
- Advanced diagnosis: When you are facing a child nutrition issue, you want answers. Our coordinated team understands this. We offer timely evaluations to help diagnose your child’s specific condition using the latest methods.
- Personalized, family-friendly care plan: After your child’s clinical evaluation and any testing needed, we work with you and your family to develop a comprehensive, evidence-based care plan focused on the specific nutrition issue, with goal-oriented interventional therapies. This includes providing treatment in a child-friendly environment to minimize stress on your child.
Center for Pediatric Obesity
We use an evidence-based approach to prevent childhood obesity and treat children living with obesity. Our Pediatric Healthy Weight Clinic is 1 of 5 in the country recognized by the CDC.
- Pediatric Advanced Feeding Therapy Program: Given the complexity of many child feeding issues, these are treated most effectively with a multidisciplinary team. Our advanced feeding therapy program includes a pediatric gastroenterologist with specialized training in nutrition, pediatric dietitians, and speech-language pathologists with advanced training in feeding and swallowing disorders.
- Education and support: Managing child and adolescent nutrition issues can be an ongoing process. Before, during and after treatment, we provide you and your family with effective tools and resources that you can use at home.
- Convenience: We offer complete care at our Royal Oak clinic. You’ll find pediatric specialists, testing facilities and procedure rooms, so your family can receive more services under one roof. We are also expanding our pediatric gastroenterology services to additional clinics throughout the region, with our latest new clinic opening at Henry Ford Medical Center – Grosse Pointe. Inpatient admission services as well as endoscopic procedural services are available at Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital.
- Innovation: Clinical trials and other research studies help to define the next gold standard of pediatric care, and our team is at the forefront of research. We have a particular emphasis on gastrointestinal research, and our current focus areas include liver disease, pancreatic disease, children living with obesity, growth and the gut microbiome (helpful bacteria in the digestive tract). Your child may be able to participate in research and access the latest care methods through our science and learning.
Looking for a second opinion?
If you are receiving services from a community provider, we welcome the opportunity to take part in your child’s care. Offerings include second opinions to confirm a diagnosis or review treatment options. We see new patients promptly, especially when there is an urgent concern.
Contact Us
FAQs about child nutrition services at Henry Ford Health
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What Is Nutrition?
Nutrition refers to the food your child eats and how it breaks down to provide energy (in the form of calories) and nutrients to support their body’s systems. It is an essential part of growing and thriving, and what your child eats can affect their health in several ways. Our experts provide nutrition-related treatment that is tailored to your child’s specific health and wellness needs
Nutritional issues fall into several categories, including:
- Overnutrition: This occurs when your child’s body takes in more calories and nutrients than their body needs. It is a direct contributor to obesity and is a major risk factor for other health conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
- Children living with obesity: When the body takes in more calories than it needs, it gets stored as excess body fat and increases body mass index (BMI). Obesity in children (older than two years) and teens is defined as having a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for their age and sex (as determined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Growth Charts.
- Undernutrition: This occurs when your child’s body doesn’t get enough of the calories that it needs to function optimally. Given the lack of calories, children who are undernourished also may lack essential nutrients such as vitamins and minerals. In addition to observable effects such as lower body weight and appearing emaciated, undernutrition can lead to stunted growth and underdevelopment, and related issues such as a weakened immune system.
- Specialty nutrition issues and complications: Some nutrition conditions are highly specialized, and focus on a specific issue that affects your child’s body. For example, a food allergy or an autoimmune disorder such as celiac disease.
- Metabolic disorders: These refer to inherited genetic conditions that affect your child’s ability to break down proteins, carbohydrates or fats.
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What Child Nutrition Issues Do You Treat?
Our Center for Pediatric Nutrition team is experienced in treating all conditions and issues related to child nutrition, including:
- Poor growth and failure to thrive
- Digestive problems, including constipation, chronic diarrhea and malabsorption, and lactose intolerance
- Celiac disease
- Gastrointestinal inflammatory disorders, including gastroesophageal reflux and inflammatory bowel disease
- Restricted eating patterns
- Children living with overweight and obesity, fatty liver disease
- Child feeding difficulties, including food refusal, oral aversion, difficulty with certain textures and feeding issues related to developmental delay and behavioral issues
- Food allergies, eosinophilic esophagitis
- Dependency on an enteral tube (NG, G-tube, G-J tube, J-tube) and IV nutrition
- Pancreatic disease
- Specialty, metabolic nutrition
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What Can We Expect at Our First Appointment?
- Prior to your first appointment, we will ask you to complete a questionnaire about the specific nutrition issue, and a food log.
- At your first appointment, you’ll meet the core members of your care team, the pediatric gastroenterologists, dietitians and other team members.
- The first visit will include a thorough clinical evaluation and creation of a diagnostic and treatment plan.
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What If My Child Needs Another Specialist?In some cases, another condition can contribute to a child nutrition issue. For example, chronic kidney disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and autism spectrum disorder.
When additional care is needed from another specialist, we help streamline referrals to other Henry Ford Health experts and collaborate with them to provide comprehensive, coordinated care for all of your child’s needs.