The problem of a child with short stature in the paediatrician’s and family doctor’s office

Height and weight measurements are an important element of every child’s visit to the paediatrician’s or family doctor’s office. Short stature is defined as a height below the 3rd percentile for age and sex. It is important to identify children in the short stature group (3% of the population) whose short height is not due to familial factors and therefore requires treatment. Correct measurement of the child’s height followed by its plotting onto a sex- and age-appropriate percentile chart is the first step to identify the problem of short stature in a child. This should be followed by determining the target height and growth rate. Therefore, regular updating of child’s medical record book is of key importance. Diagnostic work-up is needed in children with height below the 3rd percentile or with height difference of more than 2 percentile channels compared to the mean parental height, as well as in children with excessively slow growth rate (indicated by progressive decrease of percentile height position).