Your child is short in height- What to do?

What is Growth Hormone?

Growth is the most important aspect of childhood, one that distinguishes children from adults. Growth hormone or somatotropin is responsible for cell growth as well as reproduction. But insufficient somatropin production by the pituitary gland may result in lack in height. Growth is affected by a number of diseases and growth failure is often the first sign of a serious disease. Unfortunately, children with growth failure present very late when no help is possible.

Why you should worry?

Growth is the best marker of health and growth failure may be caused by a serious disease. Moreover, children with short stature have lower self-esteem.

When to worry?

Enter the age of your child in the growth chart and if it is below the lower limit visit a doctor.

Alternatively, if your child's height is less than the formula

[Height = (Age in years x 5) + 80 cm] for boy

or

[Height = (Age in years x 5) + 75 cm] for a girl , it may be a cause for concern.

Growth stops at the age of 14 years in girls and 16 years in boys. Hence the child should be reviewed latest by 10 years for girls and 12 years for boys.

What causes growth failure?

Growth failure can be due to a number of causes including poor nutrition, lack of physical activities and low genetic potential with parents being short. Short stature can also be caused by a number of diseases like thyroid problems, growth hormone deficiency (GHD) and celiac disease (wheat allergy).

Types:

Congenital GHD - This form of GHD appears from at the time of birth itself.

Acquired GHD- GHD can be acquired during later life as a result of trauma, infection, tumor growth within the brain or radiation therapy.

Idiopathic GHD- Idiopathic GHD is the third, and comparatively worst kind of GHD since it has no treatment.

GHD is mostly permanent, but can also be transient. Read on to know how to detect whether you or your child is suffering from growth hormone deficiency (GHD).

Symptoms:

A. Childhood onset :

1. Restricted height- Compared to other children of your child's age, he/she may be of shorter height, which is a rather conclusive sign to detect somatropin deficiency.

2. Chubby and comparatively younger appearance- Your child may have a proportionate body, but if he/she is unnaturally chubby and has a baby-face compared to other children, he/she may be suffering from GHD.

B. Late puberty:

1. Your child's puberty maybe later than usual or even not appear at all, depending upon the gravity of the GHD.

2. Hypoglycemia and exaggerated jaundice- Low blood sugar is amongst the most primary manifestations of GHD, along with extended duration of jaundice.

3. Micro-penis- Micro penis condition is one of the incident signs of GHD, which later escalates to growth deficit as the infant gets older.

How can I improve my child's growth?

1. Please encourage your child to play for at least 1 hour a day.

2. It is important to restrict screen time including television, computer, tablets and mobiles to less than an hour.

3. Increased protein and calcium intake with more milk, pulses and vegetables also help in improving growth.

4. Growth hormone is produced during sleep. Sleeping for at least eight hours a day is therefore essential for a child to achieve good growth.

What can be done if my child is very short? Please consult a doctor to identify the cause of short stature. Most conditions are readily treatable. Children with growth hormone deficiency respond dramatically to growth hormone. Growth hormone is also being used now in children with Turner syndrome, familial short stature, small size at birth and kidney disease.

Hurry! Time is important- act now if your child is short.

CASE STUDY: LIONEL MESSI

Messi was diagnosed very early in life with a growth hormone deficiency and the doctors wanted to put him on GH therapy but his parents couldn’t afford the cost for it. Eventually Messi’s soccer skills impressed a local soccer club so much that they agreed to pay for the GH therapy if Messi would play for the Spain teams.

 With hormone therapy, Messi managed to add height to 169 cm. and became one of the best soccer player in the world. So, the problem of hormone deficiency can be cured with hormonal therapy.