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Growth Delay is a temporary delay in the skeletal growth and the height of a child. You may have heard of this before, or maybe it is just something that 'won't happen to your child.' Growth Delay affects many children around the world, some parents may not even know a growth delay is present in their child. When a child is first born, you may not notice any significant signs that your child will have a growth delay later on in their childhood. You may begin to see signs of a growth delay at around 6 months of age. At this time, most parents tend to think that their baby is going through a stage, and will eventually outgrow this stage. I am afraid that is not always the case.
If your child is short for their age, underweight for their age, eats constantly but does not gain weight, and looks young for their age, then these are signs to look out for. Many pediatricians will not even acknowledge that there could be a growth delay present.
If you are unsure, then it is best to seek the advice of an endocrinologist. This is a doctor who specializes in the endocrine glands. The endocrinologist will run tests, will measure your child from head to toe, arm to arm, and leg to hip. They will also weigh your child and they will keep a chart that will monitor that chart very carefully during each visit.
They will run blood tests to rule out any other disorders, such as thyroidism. They will do a bone age scan. A bone age scan is an x-ray of the left wrist and hand, by this x-ray they can determine the height age of the child. If your child is 6 years old, and the bone age determines the height of a 4 year old, then your 6 year old has a 2 year growth delay. They may also run another kind of a test to determine if the child has growth hormone deficiency. This test is called a growth hormone stimulation test. This test is usually done in the hospital. It requires IV's, and needles. Since growth hormones are present during the day, and often best found in the sleep, they will test for the deficiency while the child is asleep during the day in the hospital. The test may take quite a few hours to complete, since they will draw several blood samples from the glands.
If a growth hormone deficiency is present, your doctor may opt for growth hormone shots. Growth hormone shots can be given at home by the parent. The time span for these shots can be anywhere from 3 - 18 months long, depending on how your child is reacting to the treatment. Most times, a child will start to show positive signs to the treatments. The child will grow with the shots, but once the shots are stopped, the child will grow only as fast as his body lets him. The cost of the growth hormone treatments can run anywhere from $20,000 - $25,000 per year. Most insurance companies will cover the cost.
If there is not a growth hormone deficiency present, then you have the option of just waiting it out. If a boy's bone age showed that he has a 2 year growth delay, then all it means is that most boys his age will stop growing at around 16 years of age. This boy will just stop growing at around 18 years of age. The child will develope normally, but develope normally when compared to a child that is 2 years younger than him.
Causes of Growth Delay
Many parents may blame themselves for their child's growth delay. A growth delay and a failure to thrive can be considered the same thing. But a failure to thrive child is a child who stops growing properly due to different things, such as feeding habits, sociological problems, abuse or neglect. A growth delay child is not considered the same as failure to thrive child, since a growth delay child will not show any of the same signs. The parent of a child who has a growth delay may be short in height, and the endocrinologist will take this into account when he screens your child.
Some signs to look out for and bring up to your doctor.
If your child was a normal height and weight at birth, and now seems to have stopped growing, that is a sign a growth delay may be present. Other signs to look for include, significant weight gain or weight loss, does not seem to be growing height wise, chronic headaches, abdominal pains, no change in shoe size for quite awhile, or if you just feel something does not seem right, then bring your concerns up with your pediatrician. The sooner a growth delay or a growth hormone deficiency is found, the better it is for the child to lead a healthy, normal, growing life.
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