Nancy McGreal, MD, Martin H. Ulshen, MD, 2016. "Loss of Appetite (Chapter 174)", American Academy of Pediatrics Textbook of Pediatric Care, Thomas K. McInerny, MD, FAAP, Henry M. Adam, MD, FAAP, Deborah E. Campbell, MD, FAAP, Thomas G. DeWitt, MD, FAAP, Jane Meschan Foy, MD, FAAP, Deepak M. Kamat, MD, PhD, FAAP, Rebecca Baum, MD, FAAP, Kelly J. Kelleher, MD, MPH, FAAP
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Loss of appetite (anorexia) is a common symptom in children. Acute illness in childhood is often associated with transient loss of appetite. Prolonged loss of appetite associated with poor weight gain or loss of weight usually signifies a serious chronic illness, either organic or psychogenic.
The mechanisms that regulate hunger and satiety are complex and redundant, remaining incompletely understood.1,2 Appetite is regulated by multiple nuclei and signaling pathways in the hypothalamus, now known to be much more complex than the previously described satiety center in the ventromedial hypothalamus and the feeding center in the lateral hypothalamus. The...