The characteristics of children’s growth and development: The most important characteristic of children aged 0-18 is the gradual development and maturation of all body organs and tissues, and the whole process of growth and development is continuous but not smooth and uniform. Medical science usually divides human growth and development into 4 stages, namely fetal, infant, childhood and adolescent development. The growth and development of the fetus is affected by the health condition of the mother, nutrition and placental function, etc. About 20% of children born with low weight or insufficient height (called children less than gestational age) will be short in stature when they become adults. Therefore, health care during pregnancy is crucial. Infancy, from birth to 1 week of age, is the most rapid growth stage in a person’s life, with height increasing by about 25 cm, length at 1 year of age being 1.5 times that at birth, and weight increasing by 6-7 kg, three times that at birth. Nutrition, health status and thyroid function during this period are important factors that affect the height of a child. 1 to 3 years old is called the early childhood period, with an annual height growth rate of 10-12 cm, and the height by 3 years old correlates with the average height of its parents and eventually the height in adulthood by about 80%. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to growth during infancy and early childhood. After the age of 4 years, the rate of height growth begins to decrease each year, reaching a minimum of about 5 cm/year before puberty. This period is regulated by the endocrine system, including growth hormone and thyroxine, and associated growth disorders require special tests to be detected. Most girls reach puberty around the age of 10 and boys around the age of 12, when secondary sexual characteristics begin to appear. During this period, the rate of height growth increases, which is medically known as “pubertal surge”, commonly known as “string growth”, and the height can increase by 20-25 cm. This period is due to the synergistic effect of sex hormones and growth hormone. Premature puberty is called “precocious puberty”, which can lead to aging and early closure of the epiphyseal growth plate, resulting in short stature in adulthood. The main factors affecting children’s height: The main factors affecting children’s height include genetic factors, disease factors, nutritional status, psychological factors, environmental factors, etc. Genetic factors mainly refer to the average height of both parents as well as grandparents, which has an impact on lifetime height of 20-40% proportion. Growth disorders due to chromosomal or genetic abnormalities and endocrine system diseases are more common, while factors such as geographical environment, nutrition, health status and psychological factors on adult height cannot be ignored. Short stature (formerly known as dwarfism) is defined medically as a child whose height is more than 2 standard deviations lower than the mean height of people of the same race, age, and gender or below the 3rd percentile in a similar environment; in layman’s terms, 100 children of the same age, gender, and race are ranked by height, and the last 3 children are considered short. The concern for children’s height should start with infants and toddlers. In the clinic, we often see such scenarios: mothers and fathers bring their children who are already in high school to the clinic, and when the test results show that there is no hope for their children to grow taller, the children cry bitterly, and the mothers and fathers repeatedly ask in despair: Is there no other way? Yes, once the epiphyses of the bones are fully fused, there is no hope for growth. Therefore, the sooner you pay attention to your child’s height, the better. A weekly magazine once narrated: “With the improvement of living standard, comes the era of dwarf-phobia, more and more children are caught in the distress and confusion about their height, followed by high fascination and a series of tragedies of height increase.” Some unscrupulous businessmen take advantage of people’s fear of dwarfism and spend a lot of money on TV videos, newspapers and magazines and the Internet to set up a series of “height increase traps”, confusing the boundaries between health products and therapeutic drugs. Some parents are deceived, and as a result, their children’s treatment opportunities are delayed. Some parents also hold the belief of “late growth” and wait and see, which makes some children lose the time for treatment. Growth retardation at any time during childhood can lead to short stature in adulthood, especially in infancy, because the growth rate in this period is the highest in life. Can short stature be treated? The majority of short stature can be medically intervened, such as growth hormone deficiency, precocious puberty, idiopathic dwarfism, hypothyroidism, and gonadal dysgenesis, if treated early enough, can bring height to within the normal range and improve quality of life. Growth hormone is a globally recognized growth-promoting drug, but it requires strict timing and dosage, with the disadvantage that it is expensive. Some other drugs such as lysine and Conradon can be used as adjuvant drugs.