When a child doesn’t grow and is shorter than his or her peers, the first thing that comes to mind is that nutrition is not keeping up. In fact, this may be a misconception, some such children may suffer from growth disorders or dwarfism. At a recent summit on the treatment of childhood growth disorders, experts at the meeting reminded that it is important to pay close attention to the growth of children, and the earlier the treatment of dwarfism, the better.
3-16 years old is the “golden period” of height growth
Generally speaking, if the height of a patient of the same race, sex and age is more than two standard deviations below the average height of the normal population or below the third percentile in a similar environment, he or she can be diagnosed with dwarfism. In addition, the child’s height growth rate can also be used as a criterion. Infants and children under 3 years of age with a growth rate less than 7 cm/year; 3 years of age – before puberty, with a growth rate less than 3-5 cm/year; and puberty with a growth rate less than 5-6 cm/year are considered to have slow height growth.
The age of 3-16 is the “golden period” for children to grow in height, and it is also the best time to help people with dwarfism to grow in height. Parents should keep track of their child’s basic growth pattern and record their height in detail every year. If your child grows slower than his or her peers during the growth period and does not reach the normal growth rate, it is time to seek professional help if family genetic factors are excluded.
Growth hormone deficiency can cause dwarfism
So, what causes dwarfism? According to the introduction, there are many causes of dwarfism, such as lack of or insufficient secretion of growth hormone, other endocrine diseases such as hypothyroidism, precocious puberty, genetic factors, chromosomal variants, idiopathic dwarfism and so on. After a detailed medical history, a comprehensive physical examination and a comprehensive analysis by a specialist, it will be clear whether the child is suffering from the above-mentioned diseases.
Among the patients with dwarfism caused by diseases, endocrine diseases cause dwarfism accounting for more than 60% of the patients with clinical dwarfism, the most common of which is the disorder of growth hormone secretion by the pituitary gland, which is the most important hormone to promote the growth of bones and organs after birth.
Most children with growth hormone deficiency begin to show slow growth after the age of 1. They often appear to be proportionally short and may be adults in their twenties, but always have a baby face and even still have a childish voice, yet they have the same intelligence as normal people. The growth hormone deficiency also makes the affected child a step behind in all development, especially in the reproductive system, and most have delayed puberty. If these children are not treated with growth hormone, i.e., artificial growth hormone is injected to replace the pituitary gland, they will become what we call “little dwarfs” and will generally be about 1.45 meters tall as adults for men and no more than 1.35 meters tall for women.
Monitor your child’s height every 3 months
Many parents do not know that their children are suffering from dwarfism, or even that dwarfism can be treated, which often delays the best treatment time for dwarfism. According to a survey, children with dwarfism in China generally receive treatment late, with 70% of children starting treatment at the age of 11 to 16. Therefore, children between 1 and 2 years old should be monitored every 6 months, and after 2 years old, once a year is enough to achieve early detection and early treatment.
For some parents, there are problems such as wrongly administering growth hormone injections to their children, as the dose of growth hormone required varies with age and disease. Injections should be given under strict monitoring by a doctor and should be given at the endocrine clinic of a regular general hospital.
Consumer Warning:
1, heightening shoes do not work
Most of the height increasing products on the market are nutritional products that may contain certain vitamins or trace elements, which have a certain auxiliary effect on height growth, but these products are not special drugs for height increase. In addition, some advertisements often refer to physical therapy, such as height-enhancing insoles, etc., currently have no scientific basis.
2, the advertised health products can not be trusted
Now TV, Internet, newspapers often find a variety of claims to be able to increase the height of the drug advertising, in fact, are health products, so parents must carefully distinguish whether the “State Drug Certificate”, only such products approved by the State Drug Administration is the real drug.
3, do not blindly supplement calcium and zinc
Strictly speaking, calcium and zinc supplementation is not useful for height. The role of calcium is to increase bone density, only in the case of sufficient growth hormone, the child’s bones need to grow, which requires calcium. Calcium supplementation alone is meaningless.
Self-diagnosis:How is a child considered to be suffering from dwarfism?
A child whose height is below the standard deviation of the average for normal children or below the third percentile is considered short and can be diagnosed as having dwarfism. In other words, dwarfism is a relative concept and can be monitored by comparing it with the average growth of children of the same age. If the child is significantly shorter than other children of the same age, the child has an abnormal developmental status and is probably suffering from dwarfism.
Having your child’s height measured and then comparing it to medically standardized data can also show if your child’s growth is abnormal. Generally speaking, the growth rate of infants and children under the age of three is less than 7 cm/year, and over the age of three to puberty (according to the survey, the average age of girls entering puberty in China is 9.3 years, and boys one year later), the growth rate of children is less than 4 to 5 cm/year, and the growth rate of puberty is less than 5.5 to 6.5 cm/year, which is considered as growth retardation. Experts emphasize that growth records over the years are sometimes more important than lab tests, and parents should pay close attention.
A bone age test can also be used to monitor a child’s growth status. In normal children, bone age development is synchronized with age development, but in children with dwarfism, bone age development is not synchronized with age development. Experts remind that bone age testing should always be done at a regular professional hospital.
Physiological defects often bring about psychological lack of confidence. According to the survey, nearly 60% of children with dwarfism have had varying degrees of psychological problems, such as introversion, emotional instability, poor communication and social withdrawal. Experts call on society to create a relaxed environment for children’s growth, not to overheat the height issue, but to focus on the overall physical and mental growth of children.
Special reminder: psychological factors can also lead to slow growth of children
In clinical practice, we can find cases of psychogenic dwarfism and growth retardation, which means that they are caused by psychological factors. For example, family disharmony, parents’ divorce may cause mental stress to children, resulting in short-term growth lag, or children may suffer from unhappiness, excessive pressure of study, or dislike of interest classes, resulting in short growth for a period of time. However, this situation is self-healing, and after the psychological factors are relieved and recovered, the child’s growth and development will return to normal.