What is the outlook for children with delayed growth

Condition analysis:
Your child’s outlook will depend on the cause of their growth delay and when they begin treatment. If their condition is diagnosed and treated early, they may reach normal or near normal height. Waiting too long to start treatment can raise their risk of short stature and other complications. Once the growth plates at the end of their bones have closed in young adulthood, they won’t experience any further growth.

Ask your child’s doctor for more information about their specific condition, treatment plan, and outlook. They can help you understand your child’s chances of reaching a normal height, as well as their risk of potential complications.

Instructions:
Familial (or genetic) short stature: This is a condition in which shorter parents tend to have shorter children. This term applies to short children who don't have any symptoms of diseases that affect their growth. Kids with familial short stature still have growth spurts and enter puberty at normal ages, but they usually will only reach a height similar to that of their parents.

With both constitutional growth delay and familial short stature, kids and families need to be reassured that the child does not have a disease or medical condition that poses a threat to health or that requires treatment.

However, because they may be short or may not enter puberty when their classmates do, some may need extra help coping with teasing or reassurance that they will go through full sexual development eventually. In a few children who are very short or very late entering puberty, hormone treatment may be helpful.