What's wrong with a child not growing taller?

The 14-year-old boy Zhang Liang is only 145cm tall and has always sat in the first row of the class from elementary school to junior high school. The parents thought that there was no need to rush as the child was still young, but they missed the best time for treatment and the treatment costs would increase by 50,000 yuan. The Children's Hospital of Chongqing Medical University will hold a summer short stature care week to teach parents scientific knowledge about growth and development of children and adolescents and dwarfism.

Not growing taller is not due to lack of nutrition

Zhang Liang is from Sanxi Township, Wushan County. He is only 145cm tall, 20cm below the normal height. According to Zhang Liang's mother, Ms. Ma, Zhang Liang grew slower than other children since childhood. They thought it was due to lack of nutrition, so they stewed pork ribs, drank milk, and ate eggs every day. After three months, there was still no effect, so they took the child to the Children's Hospital Affiliated to Chongqing Medical University [Weibo] for treatment.

After diagnosis, Director Cheng Qian of the Pediatrics Department finally confirmed that Zhang Liang suffered from idiopathic short stature, and if he did not receive treatment his final height would only reach about 160cm. Although Zhang Liang's bone age is relatively young and he still has about three years of growth space, his height may reach 170cm with continued treatment. However, the cost of treatment is at least 50,000 yuan higher than that of treatment before the age of 10, and the effect is not that good.

Children aged 0 to 3 years old need to be monitored regularly

Director Cheng Qian said that more than half of parents do not know that children's height needs to be monitored from 0 to 3 years old; more than 1/3 of parents do not have the habit of scientifically measuring children's height; 30% of parents mistakenly believe that as long as nutrition is up, height will catch up; more than 70% of parents lack sufficient understanding of dwarfism and do not think that dwarfism may be a disease. After discovering that their children are short, they blindly stick to wrong ideas such as "late growth" and "a big growth at the age of 23" and wait.

She suggested that parents measure their children's height once every three months. If their children are always in the top three when standing in a class, or are 5 to 10 centimeters shorter than children of the same age, parents should pay attention. As soon as parents discover that their children are short, they should take their children to a regular hospital specialist clinic and seek intervention from a professional doctor. The best age for diagnosing and treating short stature is from 3 years old to early puberty. Never seek medical treatment rashly or believe advertisements blindly, which will delay the best time for your child's treatment. It is worth noting that if a child's growth rate is higher than normal, one should also be alert to problems such as precocious puberty.