Hello Doctor, Good Morning. My Son Is 14 Years Old
Kindly give few more details
Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXXX XXXXXXX
Welcome to Ask A Doctor service
I'am Dr Aslam, Pediatrician here to help you
I understand your concern
His height is significantly lower for his age.
Weight is also low, but normal for his height.
To get an idea about the possible cause, kindly give me few more details:
1. Parents height(father and mother)
2. What about siblings height, if any?
3. Any history of significant or recurrent illness in the past?
4. What was his birth weight? Was he delivered on time, or premature birth?
5. Any investigations/blood tests done so far for this?
6. How is his pubertal development? By 14 years, we expect some secondary sexual characters like pubic, axillary and facial hair, enlargement of penis and scrotum.
Kindly get back with details, so that I can guide you better
Regards, Dr Aslam
1) Father. 156 CM
Mother 153 Cm
2). Sister. 12 years , 138 CM, 42 Kg.
3) No known significant disease
4). Not Know, but normal upto 4
years. Birth on time.
5). No tests/ treatment taken so far.
6). Sexual changes are getting
changed .
He is looking well , excellent in studies , take meals on time too . Only height And weight not gaining.
Need further evaluation
Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXXXXX XXXXXXX
Thank you for giving the details
Considering parents height, we expect a minimum height of 145-150 cm by 14 years. So height is considerably lower than expected. Weight is lower because he is short. Weight is normal for his present height.
Our first and foremost task now is to look for any treatable underlying condition that may be preventing attainment of target height. This need more detailed and direct evaluation, including his segmental height(heigh above and below pubic bone), arm span, and few investigations. We need to get a bone X ray to assess bone age, and few blood tests to look for any hormonal(thyroid, growth hormone) imbalance, organ dysfunction, metabolic disorders or other chronic diseases. Kindly discuss with a pediatrician. After initial assessment, you may be referred to a pediatric endocrinologist.
If all such causes are ruled out, what we can do is to ensure adequate nutrition(including enough green leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts, dairy) and monitor his growth velocity for coming 3-6 months. If no much improvement, a course of growth hormone treatment might prove helpful. Your doctor will discuss all these things in details.
Meanwhile, avoid giving undue importance to height in front of him, so as to avoid any psychological or emotional upset. Let him be confident and concentrate on his positive aspects like academics.
I hope this answer will help
Let me know if I can assist you further
Regards, Dr Aslam