Behavioral and cognitive status in school-aged children with a history of failure to thrive during early childhood

Twenty-seven school children (aged 8-12 years) earlier diagnosed with nonor ganic failure to thrive (FTT) were compared with a normal socioeconomically matched control group (N=17) on current height and weight parameter!; as w ell as cognitive, achievement, and behavioral measures from the Child Behav ior Checklist (CBCL), The former FTT children were, on average, smaller, le ss cognitively able, and more behaviorally disturbed than the control child ren and national normative samples. Sixty percent of former FTT children we re below the 20th percentile in height and 48% were below the 20th percenti le in weight; 52% had IQs below 80 and 30% had reading standard scores belo w 80; 48% had clinically adverse attention ratings and 30% had clinically a dverse aggression ratings on the CBCL, within the FTT sample, however; ther e were no significant associations between current growth measures and cogn itive/achievement outcome measures. Mothers' IQs; provided the strongest pr ediction of the ETT children's reading scores. The mothers of the FTT child ren had not achieved as high levels of education as the mothers of the cont rol children, and more of them were single parents. Early growth problems p ut children at high risk for multiple adverse sequelae in middle childhood, especially if mothers are poorly educated. Careful ongoing follow-up of su ch children by pediatricians is encouraged.