A previously healthy 14-month-old girl had weight tracking along the 50th centile. Over the past 6 months her plotted weights fall progressively further below the previous curve, now near the 10th centile. Length continues along its own channel. According to standard growth-monitoring criteria, this pattern is best described as:

• A Constitutional growth variation requiring no action
• B Failure to thrive only if weight falls below the 3rd centile
• C Catch-down growth, physiological in the second year
• D Growth faltering (faltering growth), defined by crossing down two or more major centile lines ✓

Explanation

Growth faltering is defined as a downward drift across two or more major centile lines (for example 50th to 25th to 10th) or a static weight over time, and it demands evaluation of dietary intake, feeding practices and illness regardless of the absolute centile. Catch-down growth refers to the benign early-infancy shift of a large birth-weight baby toward the genetic channel within the first months, not a sustained decline at 14 months. Falling below the 3rd centile alone misses many affected children.

Reference: Ghai Essential Pediatrics, 9th ed.

High-yield for: NEET PGINI-CETNExTFMGEUSMLEPLABMRCP

Written and medically reviewed by the StethoPrep medical team.