Children grow unevenly in height from childhood to adulthood, as shown by two peak periods of human growth. The first growth peak is at the age of 0-2 years, with an increase in height of 24-25 cm in the first year and up to 10-12 cm in the second year. After the third year, the annual increase is about 5-7 cm. The second growth spurt is around 12-15 years old, when pubertal development has begun and height increases dramatically until the epiphysis heals and the body basically stops growing taller. Genetics, endocrine and intrauterine development are the main factors affecting height, while nutrition, physical exercise, lifestyle and chronic diseases also play an important role. What is short stature? Generally speaking, if the height is lower than the third percentile of the growth curve of normal healthy children of the same age, sex, region and race or lower than two standard deviations, and the growth rate is lower than 5 cm/year during childhood, it is called short stature. The main causes of children’s short stature are as follows: 1. Lack of or insufficient secretion of growth hormone (GH): Growth hormone is secreted by the anterior pituitary gland and can promote the enlargement and proliferation of various tissue cells in the human body, including the proliferation of epiphyseal cartilage cells, and the growth of bones, that is, the growth of height. Growth hormone deficiency means dwarfism. 2. Precocious puberty: It can cause early growth spurt and early healing of epiphysis, but the duration of growth spurt is shortened, which is a process of early growth of bones and early stopping of growth. The final height is often shorter than normal children. 3. Chromosomal variant diseases (congenital ovarian hypoplasia syndrome, trisomy 21, etc.). 4.Low thyroid function. 5, Intrauterine growth retardation. 6.Hereditary (familial) dwarfism. 7, Malnutrition, chronic diarrhea, partial micronutrient deficiency. 8.Children with long-term glucocorticoid use (such as congenital adrenocortical hyperplasia, kidney disease, asthma, etc.) 9.Idiopathic short stature whose cause cannot be identified temporarily, etc. When parents find that their children are short in stature, they should go to the Department of Pediatric Endocrinology of regular hospitals. Doctors will come up with a correct diagnosis of the cause based on medical history, physical examination and necessary auxiliary examinations. Depending on the need, auxiliary tests include: 1. thyroid function: including T3, T4, TSH, which is measured by drawing venous blood once in the early morning on an empty stomach for testing. 2. Bone age and pterygoid saddle imaging: bone age is the most basic examination, and MRI is done in the pterygoid saddle if necessary to exclude intracranial tumors. 3.Blood chromosome examination: To rule out chromosomal diseases such as “congenital ovarian hypoplasia” in girls with short stature. 4. Trace element examination: blood calcium, zinc, iron, etc. 5.For children with precocious puberty, relevant examinations should be conducted: sex hormones, sex hormone stimulation test, pelvic ultrasound. 6.Growth hormone measurement: including screening test and excitation test to determine whether there is growth hormone deficiency. 7. Other examinations related to dwarfism, etc. Among the above tests, bone age is the most important. Bone age is the most useful indicator of the maturity of the human body. It determines the growth potential of children and has an important impact on the lifelong height in adulthood. Bone age assessment is crucial in the diagnosis, differential diagnosis, and observation of the efficacy of growth disorders in children, and is an objective indicator of the indications for some drug treatments and monitoring during the treatment process. Usually, bone age is equal to age when the skeleton is developing normally. If the bone age is not equal to the age, the cause should be actively sought. Bone age younger than age (e.g., 6 years for an 8-year-old child) is most often due to delayed sexual development, growth hormone deficiency, hypothyroidism, etc. Therefore, doctors should always determine the bone age of children to understand their actual level of development and to predict changes in their adult height. The main method of determining bone age is to use X-ray radiographs. The left wrist is the most ideal. This is where a large number of long bones, short bones and round bones are concentrated, reflecting the growth and maturity of the whole body. At present, there are several methods to treat short stature: l. Growth hormone supplementation: It is used for children with growth hormone deficiency and is effective. Recent studies have shown that it is effective for all kinds of growth retardation, while not promoting epiphyseal healing and having fewer side effects. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved growth hormone for growth hormone deficiency, congenital ovarian hypoplasia, idiopathic dwarfism, and infants younger than gestational age, among other indications. This is not to say that growth hormone is a panacea for short stature. The best efficacy is for complete or partial growth hormone deficiency, and for idiopathic short stature, Turner syndrome, and familial short stature. However, if the child has passed the pubertal development period and the epiphysis has closed, no drug can play a role in increasing height, and the application of growth hormone will produce acromegaly. 2, sex hormones and anabolic steroids: early use has varying degrees of efficacy, the biggest drawback of these drugs is that they promote early epiphyseal closure and lead to growth arrest, so they can only be used for patients under the age of 12, whose bone age lags behind the actual age by more than 3 years, and they need to be applied intermittently in small doses, in strict compliance with medical advice, and improper use will have a negative effect on the final height of children. 3, Chinese medicine preparations: the efficacy is not exact, and the effective height-enhancing ingredients of certain drugs may promote early epiphyseal closure, and once the epiphysis is closed, any drugs are useless. Therefore, for various heightening products need to be applied with caution. 4.Bone breaking and lengthening surgery can increase the height of children whose epiphyses are already closed by 5-7 cm, but the pain experienced by the child is relatively large, and the side effects after surgery are unpredictable and risky, so be careful when choosing. 5, gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues (GnRHa): for children with precocious puberty can inhibit the initiation of sexual development, so that the gonads suspend development, sex hormone secretion back to the prepubertal state, thus delaying the growth of bone age, prolonging the growth years and improving the final height. In addition to medication, the other three major elements to promote growth are nutrition, exercise and sleep. 1, adequate nutrition is the most important material basis for growing taller, protein, calcium, zinc, iron, vitamins and other important components of the body cells. Therefore, we should pay attention to a balanced mix of meat and vegetables, do not be partial food, eat more locally produced vegetables and fruits of the season. Milk is rich in arginine to stimulate the secretion of growth hormone, high in protein and calcium, which is indispensable for children every day, and it is recommended to drink pure and fresh milk, but not in excess. Avoid obesity, the increased concentration of fatty acids in the blood can inhibit the secretion of growth hormone, while obesity often induces precocious puberty, and even type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc. 2, sports: playing ball, running, swimming, jumping rope, bar draping, standing high, climbing stairs, etc. Especially touching high, playing basketball, jumping rope and other vertical sports, bouncing can not only promote growth hormone secretion, but also stimulate the growth of epiphysis, try not to do weight-bearing sports. 3, to ensure sleep: the secretion of growth hormone has a circadian rhythm, normal people in the 45 to 90 minutes after sleep, plasma growth hormone has a very obvious rise, up to 10 times more than the daytime, therefore, to ensure adequate sleep is an important factor in growing taller. The secretion of growth hormone is closely related to the depth of sleep and reaches its peak during deep sleep. If children have bedwetting, they should be treated early, avoid strenuous exercise or playing too excitedly, and avoid eating (except water) within l-2 hours before bedtime. In addition, a happy spirit is conducive to promoting growth, while mental depression will inhibit the secretion of growth hormone is not conducive to the growth of children. Therefore, parents should try to create a calm environment for their children so that they can grow happily. Although there are various causes of dwarfism and different treatment measures, it should be emphasized that regardless of the cause of dwarfism, early diagnosis and treatment are necessary, and the younger the child is, the better the outcome. Studies have shown that the younger the child is, the more active the cartilage layer of the epiphysis is in proliferation and differentiation, the greater the growth potential and space of the child, the more sensitive the child is to treatment, and the better the growth effect. Once the epiphysis has healed after puberty, there is nothing more doctors can do. At the same time, it should be reminded that one should not believe in false advertisements and promises of traveling doctors, and use supplements, drugs and height-promoting devices indiscriminately, which may delay the treatment or cause epiphyseal closure and make the child miss the opportunity to grow taller, which will be regretted for a lifetime.