Table 2.

Causes of Acute Food Refusal and Chronic Failure to Gain Weight.

Type of Cause	Acute Food Refusal	Chronic Failure to Gain Weight
Neurologic	Acute oromotor dysfunction (e.g., due to head trauma or hypoxic injury)	Chronic oromotor dysfunction (e.g., due to muscular dystrophy or pseudobulbar palsy)
Gastrointestinal	Foreign body in the gastrointestinal tract Ulceration Other acute causes of abdominal pain	Achalasia Inflammatory bowel disease Celiac disease Other chronic causes of abdominal pain
Endocrine	—	Hyperthyroidism Addison’s disease Type 1 diabetes mellitus
Infectious	—	Tuberculosis Human immunodeficiency virus
Psychosocial	Child abuse and neglect	Insufficient food availability Child abuse and neglect
Psychiatric	Anorexia nervosa Avoidant–restrictive food intake disorder Obsessive–compulsive disorder Pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome Globus hystericus	Anorexia nervosa Avoidant–restrictive food intake disorder Obsessive–compulsive disorder Stimulant use
Other		Cancer (e.g., lymphoma or rhabdomyosarcoma) Adenotonsillar hypertrophy Medication use Chronic pulmonary, cardiac, or renal disease (e.g., cystic fibrosis and renal tubular acidosis)