Myth: Parents believe that their children’s height is lower than that of children of the same age because they develop later and are late growers, causing some children to go to the hospital only when they are close to puberty. Q: When is the right time to take my child to the hospital for examination? Some parents think that they should go to the hospital only if their child does not grow up until puberty. A: This is a wrong viewpoint. Every year after the college entrance exams, there are children who go to the hospital to see why they are not growing until they go to college, only to find out that the epiphysis has closed and the child has no more potential to grow. According to the standard table of children’s height development, when your child’s height is less than the 3rd percentile of height corresponding to the same age, and the growth rate is lower than that of children of the same age, you need to come to the examination and consultation in time. For example, if the growth rate is less than 5 centimeters per year for children over five years old, or less than 6-7 centimeters per year for children who have reached puberty, you should come for a checkup; there are also children who are not short but have a low growth rate, which means that they will slowly move farther and farther away from the normal curve, and the height gap between children of the same age will become larger and larger. Some children with kidney infection, asthma, epilepsy, hepatitis, and anemia should also be examined early to remove the causes of these deformities, so that they can catch up in size. When is the most appropriate time to go for checkup? Q: Many parents still have a “wait and see” mentality, when do doctors recommend not waiting? A: There is no strict limit, I advocate that when your child is below the 10th percentile of children of the same age, come to the clinic for consultation ——- Why is my child shorter than other children? Early detection, diagnosis and intervention is better than waiting until you understand but it’s too late for anything. Part of the time I spend in the clinic is not actually diagnosing, but helping these children who are short or on the short side to find the cause. I find that most children are not actually short due to disease, but rather due to poor lifestyle habits, such as being a frequent picky eater, partial eater, overeater, playing games without sleeping, etc. So parents must not wait until their children are sick. Q: Just now I said that it is wrong to wait until puberty to check, so is it true that all short patients who reach puberty can’t be cured? A: That’s not true either. For short pubertal children, we need to further evaluate: the current height? Age? Bone age? Then a simple prediction of his height will be made.