SHORT STATURE

  Some medical problems can cause children to be   shorter than normal. Those problems include nutritional disorders, long term infections, long term conditions that affect kidneys, heart, etc., as well as hormonal disorders.   

   Is my child short?

   Short stature and growth failure are different concepts !.. 

•    Normally your doctor / nurse should measure your child's height and weight in each visit for all reasons. That way, the child’s growth can be followed over time to track his or her progress.

•    The most important point that you should notice: Does your child size for shoes or clothes change? If you do not see this change it will be appropriate to see your pediatrician.  

   If my child is short, does it necessarily mean a medical problem ?

 A) Some short kids may have medical problems. They include :

• Being too thin

• Long term conditions (kidneys, heart, digestive system, etc.)

• A condition that is called growth hormone deficiency

• Abnormal genes

 B) Some kids may be short and healthy. The possible reasons may include:

• He/she has a short parent. 

• Some children grow more slowly than normal. This is called "constitutional growth delay". These children have their pubertal growth spurt later than other children. They seem shorter than their peers, because they start puberty later. But these kids generally grow to a normal height.

*   A child may have "growth failure" without being "short", or a child may be "short" without having "growth failure".