Physical
growth of a child is another issue where parents tend to spend a lot of time
and energy worrying about its adequecy. Physical growth in children is result
of concerted optimal functioning of hormonal, nutritional and psychosocial
milieu. If a child is growing well physically in stature, it reassures us about
endocrine/hormonal and nutritional wellbeing. It is important that parents
maintain health records of their children regularly and recording of height and
weight is an integral and essential part of this.
How do
I know if my child is shorter than normal?
This can be
answered by comparing your child’s height to the height of other children who
are the same age and sex. This comparison is done with help of standard charts
that are available with your doctor. It is advisable to use Indian growth
charts for our children. If your child is much shorter than other children of
the same age and sex, doctors call it “short stature.”
If my child is short, does it mean he or she has a
medical problem?
Not
essentially. Children who are short may be healthy and may not have any medical
problem. Reasons for short stature in these children can be:
1. One or both
of their parents are short. If a child’s parents are short, chances are good
that he or she will be short, too.
2. They are
growing more slowly than usual i.e. they have “growth delay.” These children
are short because they have their growth spurt delayed than other children. But
these children will grow to a normal height as adults.
Some children
who are short do have a medical problem. Some of these include:
1. Very low
body weight
2. Long-term
diseases affecting the digestive system, heart, lungs, kidneys, or blood.
3.“Growth-hormone
deficiency”. Growth hormone is a
hormone made in the pituitary gland in brain that helps children grow normally.
Children with this condition have too little growth hormone in their body to
have normal physical growth.
4. Other
hormonal diseases like thyroid problem, pituitary abnormality etc.
5. Problems
that babies are born with, for example
abnormal genes
Will my child need some investigations?
Perhaps. First
step is to confirm whether your child is short. A physical exam followed by
measurements of height, weight, arm and leg length is the next step to
diagnosis. These will be followed by questions about family history, which will
give clues to whether the short stature could be the result of an inherited
condition. If any of the above
medical condition is suspected in your child then we might also do some blood
tests to check for different conditions, including growth hormone deficiency
and x-rays of 1 of your child’s hands and wrists – these X-rays to help tell
how tall your child will grow.
Will my child need treatment?
Treatment of
short stature depends on the underlying cause. For example, if the cause is a
chronic disease such as diabetes or sickle cell anemia, these conditions should
be treated first.
Is growth hormone treatment ever used for children
without growth hormone
deficiency?
Not usually.
That’s because growth hormone treatment doesn’t always make these children
grow. The treatment costs a lot of money and is not easy. Children usually need
to take an injection every day for many years.
Is there anything I can do on my own to help my
child?
Yes. You can make sure your child gets
enough food and eats a healthy diet. If you need help changing your child’s
diet, ask the doctor or nurse. Help your child feel good about him or herself.
Try to point out your child’s strengths and not focus too much on his or her
height.
Contributed
by:
Dr Rajiv Singla
Consultant Endocrinology & Metabolism
MD, DM
Endocrinology
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