Short stature

Short stature is height substantially below the expected range for a person’s age, sex, and population. It may reflect normal variation, inherited traits, or an underlying medical condition.

Growth chart: A graph comparing a child’s measurements with reference values for age and sex. A child’s position and trajectory on a growth chart help establish whether height is unusually low.
Growth: The increase in an organism’s size and development over time. Height is one measurable outcome of childhood growth.
Achondroplasia: A genetic skeletal disorder that impairs bone growth and commonly causes disproportionate short stature. It illustrates short stature caused by altered growth of the limbs and skeleton.
Tall stature: Height substantially above the expected range for age, sex, and population. It is the opposite deviation from the expected height range.
Pediatric endocrinology: The medical specialty focused on hormonal disorders in infants, children, and adolescents. Specialists assess suspected hormonal causes and growth patterns in children.
Growth velocity: The rate of change in a person’s height over time. A falling growth velocity can signal a problem even before height becomes markedly low.
Child development: The physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes that occur from infancy through adolescence. Height is interpreted alongside a child’s broader developmental course.
Turner syndrome: A chromosomal condition affecting females that often includes short stature and ovarian insufficiency. It is a recognizable genetic cause of reduced height in girls.
Proportionate dwarfism: Marked short stature in which body proportions remain broadly typical. It contrasts with skeletal disorders that disproportionately affect particular body segments.
Growth hormone therapy: Treatment with manufactured growth hormone for selected conditions that impair growth. It can increase growth in specific diagnoses, but is not appropriate for every short child.

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