Is slow growing child normal?

You feel that your child is the youngest in the class. This makes children feel inferior and inferior because they are too different from their friends. On the contrary, if a child gets up too early, he or she will easily fall into a difficult situation. Let aFamilyToday Health to learn about this issue so that you can determine if your home is pet baby is developing on schedule do not agree.

Most of the time, the baby develops more slowly than others because the baby's physical growth is a little slower. However, it is also possible that the parents are small and the child will resemble their parents.

However, delayed puberty can also be caused by a baby having some health problems.

Normal and unusual

Each baby puberty at different times. In girls, puberty usually lasts between 7 and 13 years old, while in boys it is between 9 and 15 years old.

By entering puberty, girls' hips will expand and breasts will begin to develop. After 2 years of development of the breast, the baby will start to menstruate.

In boys, the penis and testicles begin to develop. The body will start to have muscles, the child will start to grow facial hair and burst voice. Hair will begin to grow on the genitals and armpits in both boys and girls.

Some children develop earlier, while others develop later. There are many reasons why puberty is later than you do. If the parents are short, the child is not tall. In other words, the child's height depends partly on the height of the parents. If your baby does not have a growth disorder and his other sexual functions are still developing normally, he is still developing to a normal height, even though he looks shorter than his peers.

Late puberty babies still develop normally when they are young, but they will not start puberty like you do. Therefore, the child will be smaller than his peers.

If your baby is delayed puberty, the doctor will ask you to have your baby take a bone X-ray to compare with the average bone size. Usually, babies with growth retardation will have a bone size smaller than the bone size of other children. These kids will grow slowly and catch up with their peers as they enter their teen years. Lack of protein, calories and other nutrients can slow your baby's development. In addition, diseases such as kidney, heart, lung and intestinal diseases are also the cause of delayed puberty.

Children with sickle cell anemia also often have late puberty. Besides the treatment, you should also talk with your doctor about how to help your baby reach a normal height like other children.

What is growth disorder?

Growth disorder means the baby is growing abnormally. Growth is a complex process controlled by growth hormones. Endocrine diseases related to a hormone deficiency or increase also affect the baby's growth.

The growth hormone secreted by the pituitary gland is transported to all parts of the body. The hypothalamus is closely related to the pituitary gland through blood vessels and nerve lines, which regulate the body's endocrine. The hypothalamus neurons secrete release hormones and inhibitory hormones to control growth and development. Estrogen and testosterone are two important hormones that promote the development of the genitals and also play a key role in growth.

Hypothyroidism can slow the body from growing because the thyroid gland does not produce enough of the hormones needed for the body to develop normally. The main symptom of hypothyroidism is fatigue or sluggishness. Blood tests can help confirm this condition. The disease can develop at any time, and is common in teenagers and women of childbearing age.

Some diseases are not caused by hormones but can interfere with the ability of the body to produce hormones that are needed for the body to grow. For example, Turner syndrome is an inherited disorder involving defects in chromosomes. This disease usually occurs in girls. The cause of this syndrome is that one of the X chromosomes in women is partially or completely missing. The lives of girls with Turner syndrome are often short and sexually underdeveloped because the ovaries (the ovaries and female hormones) are not mature and function properly.

Another cause of a baby's failure to grow is dwarfism . Dwarfism is a shorter-than-normal bone condition that usually occurs in the legs, arms, or torso. People with dwarfism often have abnormal body proportions such as short limbs. Most people with dwarfism are usually inherited.

Lack of growth hormone

The main cause of growth disorders is often a growth hormone deficiency. This condition occurs when the pituitary gland does not produce enough growth hormone. The pituitary gland is a small gland, the size of a pea, located in the base of the skull and responsible for the production of eight different hormones. If the pituitary gland does not produce enough growth hormone, the baby's body will slow down.

Hormone deficiency occurs at any age, most commonly among adolescents. The most obvious sign of this condition is that the child is not reaching the standard height and weight for age. Children with this disease still have normal body proportions, only they look smaller. Lack of growth hormone does not affect intelligence and brain function.

Causes of growth hormone deficiency

Growth hormone that is not produced at birth may be caused by a tumor in the brain. This tumor is usually located in the pituitary gland or near the hypothalamus of the brain. In both children and adults, severe head injuries, accidental or traumatic infections and radiation or certain illnesses are also possible causes of growth hormone deficiency. However, in most cases the cause of the growth hormone deficiency is often inexplicable.

A lack of growth hormone affects only one person in the family and is not passed from parent to child.

What can doctors do?

♦ The doctor will create a growth chart for the baby from birth to ensure that the height and weight development of the baby is completely normal. If there are unusual problems, your doctor will order blood tests or an X-ray of the bone.

♦ Your doctor will also explore your family's growth profile. Shorty children often inherit this from their parents. Besides, if there is a late puberty in the family, the baby will most likely suffer.

♦ You can add vitamins or give your baby a special diet to help your baby grow faster.

♦ From time to time, doctors will add hormones - usually testosterone - to late puberty. This method can promote growth so that your child's body begins to produce hormones.

♦ If the baby has a growth hormone deficiency, the baby can be treated with hormone supplements. This hormone is made in the laboratory and is injected every day. This treatment usually lasts several years.

♦ It takes several weeks or months to notice a change in the body after the hormone injection, but most children will increase height 2 to 5 times faster during the first year of treatment. After that, growth is usually slower.

♦ Recently, this method is being used to help people of modest height increase height. This treatment can increase height from 5 to 7.6 cm.

♦ Growth disorders from other causes can also be treated. Girls with Turner syndrome can be treated with growth hormone injections. In addition, children with hypothyroidism can also be treated with thyroid hormone supplements.