A school nurse is assessing a 6-year-old child who reports physical neglect. Which of the following findings should the nurse expect?

Physical neglect refers to a caregiver's failure to provide for a child's basic needs, including appropriate clothing, food, shelter, supervision, and medical care. Being dressed inappropriately for the season — such as wearing summer clothes in cold weather or lacking adequate footwear — is a classic and recognizable indicator of physical neglect, as it reflects the caregiver's failure to provide suitable clothing. A nurse assessing for neglect would expect to find this finding. Lacking reaction to frightening events is more characteristic of emotional abuse or severe emotional neglect that has resulted in a dissociative or flat affect, but it is not a hallmark of physical neglect specifically. Recurrent urinary tract infections may suggest sexual abuse rather than physical neglect, as this pattern is associated with sexual trauma in children. Ranking in the 50th percentile for weight on the growth chart is actually within the normal range and does not suggest neglect; failure to thrive and weight below the expected percentiles would be a concern, not a normal weight-for-age measurement. Therefore, inappropriate dress for the season is the expected finding most consistent with physical neglect.