After the Ministry of Health and Population announced the examination of 4 million students in various schools of the Republic from the beginning of the current academic year until today, we learn in this report about stunting and short stature in children and how malnutrition causes its occurrence, according to the yalemedicine website.
At each CHI visit, from newborn through adolescence, your pediatrician will measure your child’s height, in part because growth is a measure of health, but your doctor will also track the rate at which your child is growing toward an estimated target height.
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Short stature in children
“We see short stature at all ages, from early childhood to completion of development,” said Dr. Anisha Patel, assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale Medicine.
Doctors calculate a child’s final height range based on genetic potential, and determine the “parental average” height based on the parents’ heights.
Although short stature can appear in early childhood or at any stage of childhood, it is generally observed with the onset of puberty – at around 10 years for girls and 11 years for boys. That the child be 16 years old.
And if parents are worried 8 to 10 is the time to get an evaluation, or at least talk about it with your doctor,” otherwise they may miss the opportunity to intervene.
Nutrition and short stature in children
Malnutrition is a common cause of delayed growth and stunting in children, whether due to an inadequate food supply, an eating disorder, an underlying condition or a treatment that affects appetite.
The causes of short stature vary greatly from one child to another, sometimes it is for a medical reason, sometimes it is just a delay, which means that the child’s maximum age and puberty time may be later than his peers, but he will get there in the end.
Some of the causes of slower growth include:
– Heredity When a child’s parents and grandparents are short, the child may also be short; This is known as familial short stature.
Genetic conditions. Several genetic syndromes can lead to short stature, including Prader-Willi syndrome, Turner syndrome and Noonan syndrome.
Chronic diseases Growth hormone is produced by the pituitary gland in the middle of the brain. Therefore, chronic medical problems that affect the pituitary gland may also affect growth.
Growth hormone deficiency Some children simply do not produce enough growth hormone, including those born with a poorly developed pituitary gland.
Malnutrition Whether due to an inadequate food supply, an eating disorder, an underlying condition or a treatment that affects appetite, undernutrition is a common cause of delayed growth.
Psychological stress Whether it’s exposure to violence or simply being in a home environment that is not very considerate, children can experience psychosocial stress that prevents them from developing properly.
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Treatment of short stature caused by malnutrition
Treatment of short stature depends on the cause. Sometimes treating an underlying condition such as malnutrition can treat short stature, and when malnutrition is concerned, nutrition can be improved with medications that stimulate appetite.
