Clinical and laboratory evaluation of short statured children

Growth is one of the most important indicators of health in childhood. The accurate determination of height, weight, and growth velocity should be performed and plotted on an appropriate growth chart. Once chronic non-endocrine diseases have been excluded, children whose height is below the 2 ^nd percentile or 2 SD below the mean, in association with a decreased height velocity or height less than -2.4 SD should be investigated for possible abnormalities in the GH-IGF-I axis.