At present, the standard deviation method and height percentile method are used clinically to determine short stature, i.e. a child whose height is lower than the 3rd percentile or two standard deviations of the normal height standard for children of the same age, sex, region and ethnicity is diagnosed as dwarfism.
Dwarfism is partly caused by organic diseases and partly caused by non-disease factors. The disease causes include endocrine abnormalities, skeletal lesions or other diseases, among which growth hormone deficiency is the most common, followed by precocious puberty, and some are caused by intrauterine growth retardation or chromosomal abnormalities. Non-disease-induced dwarfism includes familial dwarfism, somatic dwarfism, and delayed physiological puberty development.
According to the survey, at least half of the parents of children with dwarfism believe that their children’s height is related to family genetics, and it is normal for their children to be short if their parents are not tall, and the result is the same with or without treatment. They never thought about and did not know to go to the doctor for treatment.
There is a golden dividing line between boys and girls in determining children’s short stature, which is 4 years old. 4 years old is the age when growth hormone and thyroid hormone are basically formed in the human body, and diet and sleep habits are gradually formed, so we can see whether there are defects from the figure. Parents are advised to measure the height of their children every 2 months, and if the growth rate slows down, it is necessary to see a doctor in time.
According to the survey, 70% of parents in China do not know that their children’s short stature may be caused by diseases, therefore, domestic treatment for short stature is late, 70% of the age group is between 11 and 16 years old. In contrast, the average time for treatment abroad is 6 years old. The older age of initiation of treatment contributes less to adult height, and early treatment can maximize the adult height of the child. Therefore, 4-6 years of age is the ideal age for the diagnosis and treatment of short stature caused by growth hormone deficiency.