Recently, the number of children with complaints of slow growth and dwarfism in our endocrine clinic has increased significantly, and more than half of them thought of treatment only after they were 10 years old. One of the parents brought their 15-year-old son to the clinic, who is 160 cm tall. After examination, it was found that there was very little room for growth, and it was too late to consult the doctor.
Children’s height is affected by many aspects, and the normal annual growth rate of children over three years old is 6-7 cm. If it is less than 4.5 cm, you should go to the hospital to check if the following diseases exist: (1) Growth hormone deficiency Because the pituitary gland secretes less growth hormone due to primary or secondary causes, growth is slowed down, and the gap between children of the same age grows bigger with age. Therefore, parents do not take it seriously and wait until the child is older, gaining weight, increasing the cost of treatment, and the effect is still unsatisfactory, which also causes negative effects on the child’s psychology.
(2) Precocious puberty The child’s height is normal or slightly short, but the age of puberty is early, initially taller than children of the same age, but by the time other children develop normally and grow rapidly, she has not grown, to the hospital, found that the time for treatment has been missed, regretting too late. For girls puberty is at 11-12 years old and for boys it is usually 1-1.5 years later. Even if the development is normal for the age, if the basic height is short, it should still attract parents’ attention.
(3) Intrauterine dysplasia These children are born short due to various reasons during the mother’s pregnancy, and later grow at the low limit of the normal rate, and always have a gap with normal children. If you want to intervene, you should do so early.
Other endocrine diseases such as hypothyroidism, hypoadrenalism, chromosomal abnormalities, congenital metabolic diseases, and abnormal bone development can also cause slow growth and short stature.
At present, there are many products advertised in society to increase height, such as height-enhancing shoes, height-enhancing oral liquid, group growth spirit, etc., more or less exaggerated effect, some contain hormones, a good effect of promoting growth in a short period of time, but at the same time, the bone age accelerated fierce growth, the result is to pull up the seedlings, to later regret, so be sure to go to a regular hospital to do the relevant examination to clarify the cause so as not to delay the treatment.
Parents and children can do the following to help the secretion of growth hormone to promote growth: (1) increase outdoor activities, jumping, stretching class; (2) ensure sleep time, improve sleep quality; (3) adjust eating habits, reduce snacks, not blindly into the supplement; (4) maintain a good mental state. Scientific treatment of children’s growth will make them grow faster and better.