In recent years, the problem of short stature of children has attracted the attention of many families and society, many parents because their children are short, they indiscriminately use a variety of “height” drugs; many parents expect their children may have “late growth”, and blindly wait for This can cause many children to lose the best time to increase their height.
Short stature refers to children of the same race, sex and age in a similar living environment, whose height is 2 standard deviations below the average height of the normal population, or below the 3rd percentile. Therefore, if a child’s height is significantly lower than that of a normal child of the same sex and age (for example, if he or she is in the top three in line in a primary or secondary school class), it is important to consider the possibility that the child has a growth disorder.
In the diagnosis of short stature in children, the growth rate of height is more important than the absolute height. By growth rate, we mean the number of centimeters of height growth per year. There are two peak periods of human growth rate, namely 0 to 3 years old and puberty. The average height at birth is 50 cm, the first year of growth of about 25 cm, the second and three years each about 10 and 8 cm; puberty growth of 8 to 12 cm per year, while the appearance of male and female signs.
Between the ages of 3 and puberty growth is 5 to 7 cm per year. Slow growth is considered to exist if growth is less than 5 cm per year between the age of 3 and puberty. If a child’s current height is still within the normal range, but the growth rate in the last 1-2 years has been lower than normal, he or she should also seek medical attention and have the cause examined so that the disease can be detected early and receive early treatment.
There are many causes of short stature, the common ones are growth hormone deficiency, idiopathic short stature (including familial short stature, delayed somatic youth development, etc.), persistent short stature in children younger than gestational age, hypothyroidism, congenital ovarian insufficiency, various pituitary hormone deficiencies, precocious puberty, congenital chondrodysplasia, renal tubular acidosis, certain chronic diseases and malnutrition.
There is a time limit for the growth of children, and it is important to grasp the best time to treat children with short stature. The best time to treat dwarfism is from the age of 4 to early adolescence. With early detection and treatment, it is possible to grow to the same height as a normal person. Once the epiphysis closes after puberty, the child’s height will be basically fixed.
If parents find that their child’s height is significantly lower than other children of the same age, they should seek early medical examination, such as bone age, growth hormone stimulation test, thyroid function measurement, cranial MRI, chromosome examination, etc., to identify the cause of short stature. According to the different causes, you should seek proper treatment under the guidance of an experienced doctor. Early diagnosis and treatment can be achieved. The younger the child is, the better the treatment effect and the less the cost.
Never wait blindly and miss the best treatment period for your child. At the same time, never seek medical advice or use drugs indiscriminately, because some height-enhancing drugs can temporarily play a role in increasing height, but they have many side effects and often promote the early closure of the epiphysis, which in turn reduces the final height.