We first established percentile reference curves for infant length and head circumference in Hainan Province based on gender and age in months and compared them with the 2022 national standards and World Health Organization (WHO) standards. This cross-sectional survey involved 2736 infants (1471 boys and 1265 girls) in 18 cities and counties in Hainan Province. Standardized instruments were used to measure head circumference and length. Reference values for Hainan infants\' length and head circumference were determined using the LMS method. Curves were generated using the LMS Chart Maker software. According to the newly established reference curves, the length and head circumference of Hainan infants exhibited a consistent trend of steady growth. However, the average head circumference was below the 2022 national reference values and WHO standards. The mean length was lower than the new national reference values but roughly consistent with the WHO standards. Differences exist in infant length and head circumference in Hainan compared to national and global averages. To enhance infant length and head circumference growth, the health department should encourage exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months, ensure infants\' sleep needs at night, and promote the regularity of vitamin D supplementation during the perinatal period.

BACKGROUND: Glycogen storage disease type 0a (GSD0a) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by glycogen synthase deficiency. Short stature is a characteristic feature in 29% of GSD0a patients, but isolated short stature as the only presenting symptom is exceedingly rare, with only 2 cases reported worldwide.
METHODS: A 4-year-old girl presented with persistent growth retardation despite previous treatment for renal tubular acidosis.
METHODS: Based on clinical presentation and whole exome sequencing results, the patient was diagnosed with GSD0a.
METHODS: Uncooked cornstarch therapy was initiated at 2 g/kg every 6 hours.
RESULTS: After 3 years of treatment, the patient\'s height SDS improved from -2.24 to -1.06, with enhanced glycemic control and no complications.
CONCLUSIONS: This case emphasizes considering GSD0a in unexplained short stature and the value of continuous glucose monitoring. Early diagnosis and treatment can optimize growth in GSD0a patients.

Tracking trajectories of body size in children provides insight into chronic disease risk. One measure of pediatric body size is body mass index (BMI), a function of height and weight. Errors in measuring height or weight may lead to incorrect assessment of BMI. Yet childhood measures of height and weight extracted from electronic medical records often include values which seem biologically implausible in the context of a growth trajectory. Removing biologically implausible values reduces noise in the data, and thus increases the ease of modeling associations between exposures and childhood BMI trajectories, or between childhood BMI trajectories and subsequent health conditions. We developed open-source algorithms (available on github) for detecting and removing biologically implausible values in pediatric trajectories of height and weight. A Monte Carlo simulation experiment compared the sensitivity, specificity and speed of our algorithms to three published algorithms. The comparator algorithms were selected because they used trajectory information, had open-source code, and had published verification studies. Simulation inputs were derived from longitudinal epidemiological cohorts. Our algorithms had higher specificity, with similar sensitivity and speed, when compared to the three published algorithms. The results suggest that our algorithms should be adopted for cleaning longitudinal pediatric growth data.

BACKGROUND: Growth failure in chronic kidney disease is related to high morbidity and mortality. Growth retardation in this disease is multifactorial. Knowing the modifiable factors and establishing strategies to improve care for affected children is paramount.
OBJECTIVE: To describe growth patterns in children with chronic kidney disease and the risk factors associated with short stature.
METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed anthropometric and epidemiological data, birth weight, prematurity, and bicarbonate, hemoglobin, calcium, phosphate, alkaline phosphatase, and parathormone levels of children with stages 3-5 CKD not on dialysis, followed for at least one year.
RESULTS: We included 43 children, the majority of which were boys (65%). The mean height/length /age z-score of the children at the beginning and follow-up was -1.89 ± 1.84 and -2.4 ± 1.67, respectively (p = 0.011). Fifty-one percent of the children had short stature, and these children were younger than those with adequate stature (p = 0.027). PTH levels at the beginning of the follow-up correlated with height/length/age z-score. A sub-analysis with children under five (n = 17) showed that 10 (58.8%) of them failed to thrive and had a lower weight/age z-score (0.031) and lower BMI/age z-score (p = 0.047).
CONCLUSIONS: Children, particularly younger ones, with chronic kidney disease who were not on dialysis had a high prevalence of short stature. PTH levels were correlated with height z-score, and growth failure was associated with worse nutritional status. Therefore, it is essential to monitor the growth of these children, control hyperparathyroidism, and provide nutritional support.

The aim of this study was to analyze the validity of self-reported anthropometric measurements (weight and height) for classifying the nutritional status of Brazilian adults and elderly people using data from the 2019 National Health Survey (PNS). The PNS sample is made up of permanent private households from all of Brazil\'s federative units and this is a cross-sectional study in which 6,571 records were identified with measured and reported data, with no missing data for one variable being identified when in the presence of another. Validation was carried out with 6,381 data after removing atypical data. The variables used for stratification were: gender, age, race/color, schooling, and income, and the weighted Kappa Coefficient and the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) were used to analyze agreement between the nutritional status categories. Accuracy was analyzed based on sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV). For construct validity, a Poisson regression was performed for each outcome (measured and self-reported), with the independent variables \"gender\", \"color/race\", \"schooling\", and \"family income\". All the analyses showed positive results for validation. There was greater reproducibility among adults (18 to 59 years old) compared to the elderly and among men compared to women. This validation indicates a concrete possibility of carrying out an association of observational studies using reported nutritional status as the outcome variable, as an efficient strategy which could minimize the operational difficulties often encountered.

BACKGROUND: Does preschool height predict adult stature in undernourished settings? The extent to which preschool length or height forecasts young adult stature is unclear in chronically undernourished populations.
METHODS: In 2006-8, we assessed height in a cohort of 2074 young adults, aged 16-23 years, in rural Nepal who, as preschoolers (≤ 4 year), were measured at baseline and again 16 months later during a vitamin A supplementation trial in 1989-91. We assessed by linear regression the ability of preschool length (L, measured < 24 mo) or height (Ht, 24-59 mo), at each year of age to predict 16-23 year old height, adjusted for month of young adult age, interval duration (in months), caste, preschool weight-for-height z-score and, in young women, time since menarche, marriage status and pregnancy history.
RESULTS: Young women were a mean of 0.81, 1.11, 0.82, 0.24, 0.44 cm taller (all p < 0.01) and young men, 0.84, 1.18, 0.74, 0.64 and 0.48 cm taller (all p < 0.001) per cm of attained L/Ht at each successive preschool year of age and, overall, were 2.04 and 2.40 cm taller for each unit increase in preschool L/Ht z-score (L/HAZ) (both p < 0.001). Coefficients were generally larger for 16-month follow-up measurements. The percent of young adult height attained by children with normal L/HAZ (>-1) increased from 38-40% mid-infancy to ∼ 69-74% by 6 years of age. By 3-6 years of age heights of stunted children (L/HAZ<-2) were consistently ∼ 4-7% lower in their young adult height versus normal statured children. There was no effect of preschool vitamin A receipt.
CONCLUSIONS: Shorter young children become shorter adults but predictive effects can vary by sex, age assessed, and may be influenced by year or season of measurement.

Background and Objectives: Phenylketonuria (PKU) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by the inability to convert the essential amino acid phenylalanine into tyrosine. Early dietary treatment can successfully prevent complications, but controversies still exist regarding the attainment of normal growth in these patients. Materials and Methods: Eighteen patients with PKU from two Romanian reference centers were compared to eighteen non-PKU controls, matched for age and gender. The comparisons used weight-for-height, weight-for-age, height/length-for-age, and body mass index-for-age z-scores from birth to three years of age. Results: The PKU study group consisted of nine boys and nine girls, with a median follow-up period of thirty-six months (interquartile range = 9.75). While median values of all four growth metrics remained within the normal range across the entire study period, weight-for-age z-scores were significantly lower in PKU patients throughout most of the study (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The persistent lower weight-for-age z-scores of the PKU patients compared to controls indicate that ongoing monitoring and potential adjustments in dietary therapy may be necessary to further optimize growth outcomes.

The objective of this study was to explore the key elements of Korean medicine (KM) treatment for idiopathic short stature (ISS) by analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT). This was a qualitative study of interviews with 7 KM doctors who had at least 3 years of experience in KM treatment for ISS. Based on the content, a SWOT and a cross-SWOT analysis were conducted. A SWOT of KM treatment for ISS was derived as follows: Strengths included the additional positive health promotion effects and fewer possibilities of adverse effects. Weaknesses included insufficient long-term evidence on the effect and safety and difficulty in predicting prognosis for ISS treatment in KM. Opportunities included a growing interest in height growth in general and the need for parental involvement in children height growth. Threats included the limited use of diagnostic devices and relatively high medical costs due to non-coverage by national health insurance. This study suggests that the safety and clinical effectiveness evidence of KM treatment for height growth should be guaranteed through well-designed large-scale long-term studies. Various strategies are needed to promote the use of diagnostic and evaluation devices for ISS treatment in KM clinical settings.

BACKGROUND: Idiopathic short stature (ISS) is characterized by short stature with unknown causes. Recent studies showed different gut microbiota flora and reduced fecal short-chain fatty acids in ISS children. However, the roles of the microbiome and metabolites in the pathogenesis of ISS remains largely unknown.
METHODS: We recruited 51 Chinese subjects, comprising 26 ISS children and 25 normal-height control individuals. Untargeted metabolomics was performed to explore the fecal metabolic profiles between groups. A shotgun metagenomic sequencing approach was used to investigate the microbiome at the strains level. Mediation analyses were done to reveal correlations between the height standard deviation (SD) value, the gut microbiome and metabolites.
RESULTS: We detected marked differences in the composition of fecal metabolites in the ISS group, particularly a significant increase in erucic acid and a decrease in spermidine, adenosine and L-5-Hydroxytryptophan, when compared to those of controls. We further identified specific groups of bacterial strains to be associated with the different metabolic profile. Through mediation analysis, 50 linkages were established. KEGG pathway analysis of microbiota and metabolites indicated nutritional disturbances. 13 selected features were able to accurately distinguish the ISS children from the controls (AUC = 0.933 [95%CI, 79.9-100%]) by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study suggests that the microbiome and the microbial-derived metabolites play certain roles in children\'s growth. These findings provide a new research direction for better understanding the mechanism(s) underlying ISS.

BACKGROUND: Short stature in growth hormone deficiency (GHD) can be treated with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH), which is proven to be both safe and effective. However, a considerable number of patients does not achieve satisfying therapy outcomes.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the predictive effect of height increase in the first year of rhGH treatment on long-term therapy outcomes.
METHODS: 165 short-stature children (mean age 10.72 ±3.33 years; 63% males), diagnosed with GHD, treated with rhGH for at least one year (mean follow-up 4.32 ±1.80 years), divided into 2 groups according to the change in height standard deviation score (SDS) after the first year of rhGH treatment: good responders (GR) and poor responders (PR). Then, in one-year intervals, patient\'s chronological age, bone age, height, weight, insulin-like growth factor level, and rhGH dose were all assessed.
RESULTS: In the GR group, mean height velocity SDS up to five years of observation was 1.19 ±0.41/year and in the PR group 0.59 ±0.38/year. The differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05).
CONCLUSIONS: The primary response to the rhGH treatment in GHD children seems to be a good predictor for long-term therapy outcomes.
UNASSIGNED: Standardem leczenia niskorosłości spowodowanej somatotropinową niedoczynnością przysadki (SNP) jest rekombinowany ludzki hormon wzrostu (rhGH). Mimo stosowania terapii, znaczna część pacjentów nie osiąga satysfakcjonujących wyników leczenia.
UNASSIGNED: Ocena wpływu wzrastania pacjentów w pierwszym roku leczenia rhGH na długoterminowe wyniki terapii.
UNASSIGNED: 165 niskorosłych dzieci (średnia wieku 10,72 ±3,33 roku; 63% chłopców), u których zdiagnozowano SNP, leczonych rhGH przez co najmniej rok (średni czas obserwacji 4,32 ±1,80 roku). Pacjentów podzielono na 2 grupy w zależności od tempa wzrastania standaryzowanego do wieku i płci (współczynnik odchylenia standardowego – SDS) w pierwszym roku leczenia: grupa z zadowalającą pierwotną odpowiedzą (GR – good responders) i z niezadowalającą pierwotną odpowiedzią (PR – poor responders). W odstępach rocznych oceniano wiek kostny, wzrost, masę ciała, stężenie insulinopodobnego czynnika wzrostu 1 i dawkę rhGH.
UNASSIGNED: W grupie GR średnie tempo wzrastania (standaryzowanego do wieku i płci) do 5 lat obserwacji wyniosło 1,19 ±0,41 SDS/rok, a w grupie PR 0,59 ±0,38 SDS/rok. Różnice były istotne statystycznie (p < 0,05).
UNASSIGNED: Pierwotna odpowiedź na leczenie rhGH u dzieci z SNP wydaje się dobrym prognostykiem długoterminowych wyników terapii.