Abstract

PIP: A study of child growth included 2500 consecutive admissions to Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children in Bombay, India. 140 (5.6%) were considered to be of short stature (less than the 5th percentile of an Indian standard). The causes of growth retardation were in order of frequency: protein energy malnutrition (42), chronic systemic disease (23), chronic anemia (19), skeletal disorders (16), constitutional short stature (15), endocrine disorders (15), intrauterine growth retardation (5), chromosomal disorders (2), and miscellaneous (3). All 10.7% of cases with endocrine problems had congenital hypothyroidism. A study of short stature among 430 children referred to the same hospital's endocrine clinic showed endocrine disorders were responsible for most short stature cases (143 or 33.3%). 97 of these cases (67.8%) had a deficiency of growth hormone, while just 6.3% suffered from hypothyroidism. Malnutrition and chronic disease caused short stature in just 8.4%. Another survey conducted in the outpatient clinic showed that the height of 50 of 500 (10%) children was below the 5th percentile of the Indian standard. 32% were below the 3rd percentile of a Western standard. A study of 200 children referred to the hospital for their short stature demonstrated that 132 (66%) were below the 5th percentile of the Indian standard. 67.8% of the children between the Indian standard's 5th percentile and the Western standard's 3rd percentile were of normal variant short stature. In fact, 90.4% of their heights compared to their parents' heights. 56.8% of those below the 5th percentile had endocrine problems and just 19.6% correlated with their parents' height. 52% of these children were deficient in growth hormone. Therefore, growth hormone deficiency accounted for 20% of all short stature cases.