The prevalence of dwarfism in China is about 3%. The high prevalence rate is not terrible, what is terrible is that many parents and even many doctors lack the relevant knowledge. More than half of parents do not know that they need to observe children’s height from 0 to 3 years old; one-third of parents do not have the habit of measuring children’s height scientifically; 30% of parents mistakenly believe that as long as nutrition keeps up, height can catch up; 75% of parents do not know that children with short stature should go to pediatric endocrinology or pediatric health department for examination. Short stature is one of the common endocrine disorders in children’s growth and development, which will have a negative impact on children’s future schooling, employment and marriage. Many parents find out that their children are short when they are young, but they think that their children may be in the “late growth” range and blindly wait and delay, thinking that it is too late to treat them when they need to be employed. However, we do not know that the child’s epiphysis has already closed or is close to closing, and the growth potential is limited, so we regret missing the best time for treatment.
Children’s height growth is regular, generally 50cm at birth, 25cm in the first year, 10-11cm in the second year, and 5-7cm per year after the age of two, especially after the age of three, when they enter childhood, the most obvious effect of growth hormone on height. At puberty, sex hormones are quite important for height, girls can grow 25cm on average and boys 30cm. parents should note that sex hormones promote height growth while also accelerating epiphyseal closure, if a girl’s height is not ideal two years after her menarche and a boy’s voice change, the effect of interfering again at this time is no longer very obvious.” How to initially determine whether a child is dwarfism the most simple and rough observation is that a pair of pants can be worn for two or three years; there is also a formula for calculating the average height of children aged 2-12: age x 7 + 75 (cm). If a child is found to be 5-10cm below the average height, he or she is on the short side. 2 to 13 years old is the prime time to treat dwarfism and parents should pay close attention to their child’s height. Therefore, when you find that your child is lagging behind in growth, you should neither wait nor seek medical attention blindly. You must go to a professional hospital to find the cause of your child’s lagging growth and seek scientific treatment.