Failure to Thrive
Public Policy
Governmental policies can improve maternal and child nutrition through public programs. In the United States, for example, in 2001 the WIC program served seven million participants at a cost of $4 billion. Programs to promote maternal nutrition and breast feeding can help to prevent undernutrition in children. Governmental policies can also help families buy food by providing money. All industrialized countries except the United States provide family allowances to parents to help with the costs of raising children. Many countries subsidize housing; cash benefits for maternity are available in more than 100 countries (Kamerman 1996). Such approaches indirectly help families feed their children. Provision of good nutrition to infants and young children is a basic responsibility of society. As Sir Winston Churchill said in 1943, "There is no finer investment for any community than putting milk into babies."
See also: CHILD ABUSE: PHYSICAL ABUSE AND NEGLECT; CHILDHOOD, STAGES OF: INFANCY; CHILDHOOD, STAGES OF: TODDLERHOOD; DEVELOPMENT: COGNITIVE; DEVELOPMENT: EMOTIONAL; FAMILY POLICY; FOOD; ORPHANS; POVERTY
Bibliography
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Black, M. (1995). "Failure to Thrive: Strategies for Evaluation and Intervention." School Psychology Review 24:171–185.
Churchill, W. (1943). Quoted in The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, 4th edition, ed. A. Partington. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1992.
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Institute of Medicine. (1996). WIC Nutrition Risk Criteria: A Scientific Assessment. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Kamerman, S. B. (1996). "Child and Family Policies: An International Overview." In Children, Families, and Government: Preparing for the Twenty-First Century, ed. E. F. Zigler, S. L. Kagan, and N. W. Hall. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
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Kessler, D. P., and Dawson, P. (1999). Failure to Thrive and Pediatric Undernutrition: A Transdisciplinary Approach. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
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Sturm, L., and Gahagan, S. (1999). "Cultural Issues in Provider-Parent Relationships." In Failure to Thrive and Undernutrition: A Transdisciplinary Approach, ed. D. B. Kessler and P. Dawson. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
Yoos, H. L.; Kitzman, H.; and Cole, R. (1999). "Family Routines and the Feeding Process." In Failure to Thrive and Undernutrition: A Transdisciplinary Approach, ed. D. B. Kessler and P. Dawson. Baltimore, MD: Paul H. Brookes.
PETER DAWSON
LYNNE STURM
Additional topics
Marriage and Family EncyclopediaFamily Health IssuesFailure to Thrive - Causative Factors, Effects Of Failure To Thrive, Evaluation And Treatment, Public Policy