Short stature affects both children and adults and can have various causes. Doctors use growth charts to identify short stature, and individuals in the bottom two percentile are considered short. Sensitivity to people of short stature is important to maintain self-esteem. Short stature may be treatable or permanent, and a child’s height does not necessarily predict their adult stature. Individuals of short stature may be at risk of developing low self-esteem, so it’s important to avoid treating them differently and to encourage them in areas where they excel.
Short stature is an umbrella term used to describe a physical height that is significantly less than that of other people of the same sex and age as the affected individual. It can affect both children and adults and may have no known cause or may be caused by a number of diseases or disorders. In some cases it can be treatable or even self-correcting, while in other cases it is permanent. Showing sensitivity to people of short stature, especially children, can be critical to maintaining self-esteem.
To identify short stature in a patient, a doctor compares the patient’s height to the average height of other individuals of the same gender and age. For children and adolescents, this comparison is usually done using a growth chart. According to criteria established by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, individuals whose height falls approximately in the bottom two percentile for their peer group are considered short stature.
Both children and adults can be short in stature. In some cases, extreme brevity has no identifiable cause. Other cases of short stature are caused by conditions such as genetic defects, growth hormone deficiencies, malnutrition, skeletal disorders, and heart or kidney disease.
Also, a child’s height is not necessarily a predictor of what kind of stature they will have as an adult. Children of average height may experience stunted growth leading to their short stature as adults. Conversely, individuals who were considered short as children may reach average height in adulthood due to treatment of the underlying cause of their shortness. However, when short stature is caused by lifelong conditions such as certain genetic mutations and skeletal disorders, it is likely to persist throughout the lifespan of the affected individual.
In many societies, extreme brevity is regarded as a mark of difference or even maligned as some sort of deficiency. As a result, individuals of short stature, especially children, may be at risk of developing low self-esteem. Those who have a short child in their life can help promote self-confidence by refraining from treating him differently from his peers, by avoiding making insensitive jokes or teasing him about his height, and by encouraging him in areas where excels.
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