The growth and development process of children can be divided into three stages: infancy, childhood, and adolescence.
The period from birth to 3 weeks of age is called infancy, also known as the rapid growth period, the fastest growth rate in the first year after birth, up to 25 centimeters, followed by an annual growth of 10 centimeters, the growth of this period is mainly regulated by the nutritional status and growth hormone.
From the age of 3 weeks to the beginning of puberty this period is called childhood, also known as the stable growth period, during this period growth is mainly regulated by growth hormone, growth of 5-7 cm per year, if the body does not produce enough growth hormone, the annual growth rate will drop to less than 3-4 cm.
Puberty generally begins at the age of 10-12 for girls and ends at the age of 17-18 for boys, and generally begins at the age of 12-14 and ends at the age of 18-20, generally about 2 years earlier for girls than for boys. After entering puberty, children’s growth accelerates again due to elevated levels of sex hormones, of which growth hormone plays a dominant role in human growth. In addition to promoting growth, sex hormones also promote sexual maturation and epiphyseal closure, eventually leading to growth cessation, which can grow 25-28 cm for boys and 25 cm for girls throughout puberty. Subsequently, due to epiphyseal closure, the child does not grow taller.
Therefore, parents need to pay close attention to their children’s height, once they find that their children are growing slowly (annual growth rate <4-5 cm), or their height is lower than the height of healthy children of the same age, the same sex, the same race -2SD, they should go to the hospital to do relevant examinations, find out the cause and seek appropriate treatment.
The best time to treat a child is from 3 to 10 years old, the younger the child is, the better the treatment effect and the more satisfying the height can be; in addition, since the dosage of growth hormone and weight are closely related, the earlier the treatment, the smaller the dosage and the more economical the treatment.
In addition, since the dosage of growth hormone is closely related to body weight, the earlier the treatment, the smaller the dosage and the less economic burden. Therefore, early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment are very important.