Question
After starting kindergarten, my child is much shorter than their classmates, and there hasn’t been much growth even after a semester. Is it short stature? I would like to understand the causes of children’s short stature.
Answer
When children are examined, if their height is more than two standard deviations below the average height of patients of the same race, gender, and age, or below the third percentile, it can be diagnosed as short stature. The causes of short stature can be divided into bone disease-related short stature and short stature associated with chromosomal abnormalities. Bone disease-related short stature is caused by poor bone development and may include diseases such as osteomalacia and osteogenesis imperfecta. Short stature associated with chromosomal abnormalities often manifests as shortness, such as in Down syndrome and congenital ovarian hypoplasia syndrome.