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Short
Child
Darshana at the age of ten constantly
wondered why she was shorter than all of her friends. She simply
hated craning her neck upwards to speak to people. One day at school,
the teacher asked them to stand in size order. Little feet shuffled
about and after hustling around for a bit, Darshana found herself in the
front of the line. She was the shortest in her class. Her face
scrunched up and tears started to role down her charlie brown cheeks. The parents were worried about Darshna and decided to consult a doctor.
Short stature could have an effect on many children. At the doctor's,
Darshna's parents found out that a number of things could cause short stature
and they wanted to understand those reasons and help Darshna in any way
they could.
Why is your child
short?
First of all there could be many
medical problems that might cause your child to be short. He might
have a growth hormone deficiency, hypothyroidism, inflammatory bowel disease,
malnutrition, Turner syndrome and kidney problems. If your child
does not suffer from any of these diseases, then your child is short because
it is hereditary or because he has a delayed growth.
The So-Called
Normal Growth Rate
In early infancy, which is from the
time your child is born till he is a year old, he will grow at a rate of
about 23-28 cm. Then from the ages of 1-3, your child will grow 7.5-13cm. From the ages of 6-18, your child will have some inconsistencies in his
growth, but by the time he is 2 years of age, he will follow his growth
curve and will continue to grow more or less on his curve till he is 18.
Of course, your child's growth pattern will heavily depend on how tall
you are as parents. Do not think it is odd if your child does not
grow when you are just as short. Although there are some rare occasions,
when very short parents have very tall kids or vice-versa.
The Growth Hormone
Debate
There is a synthetic growth hormone
that short children may take. This specific hormone has no side effects,
but there is a huge debate whether children should take this hormone or
not. Apparently this hormone should increase your child's height
by two years. This is a personal decision that you as parent will
have to take. The drug costs 20,000 dollars a year and while some
insurance companies will pay for it, not all of them will. However,
many parents do not like the idea of putting something unnatural in their
children to make them grow and prefer to let Mother Nature take its course.
Humans have no control over whether
they will be short or tall. If the idea of being short disturbs your
child, you must encourage him and make him feel good about being short.
Show him the advantages of being short. Most of all it is important
for you and your child to remember that the inside of a person is far more
important than the outside of a person. The beauty of the soul will
always beat the beauty of the body and never forget that!!
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