The Medical City Pediatric Grand Rounds lecture this week was given by Dr. Ellen Sher, Pediatric Endocrinologist. Her topic was short stature. She discussed the various causes and possible treatments for short stature. The most important factor that determines a child's final adult height is genetics. Unfortunately, a child can't help it if their parents are short, too! My favorite quote from this lecture: "Apple trees make apples. Pear trees make pears. We can't expect an apple tree to make a pear!" Nutrition and chronic illnesses also play a role in determining adult height, and underlying endocrine conditions such as growth hormone deficiency are much more rare. She also gave the most accurate equation for predicting a child's adult height. It is a little more complicated than some other estimates, but here goes:
[ (Height of opposite sex parent +/- 5 inches) + (Height of same sex parent) ] divided by 2
(In the fiirst part of equation: For boys, add 5 inches to the mother's height; for girls, subtract 5 inches from the father's height)
An example: Little Billy's mom is 5' 3", and dad is 5' 10" -- the equation goes like this: [ (5' 3" + 5 inches) + (5' 10") ] divided by 2 = 5' 9". Thus, little Billy has a 90% likelihood of being within +/- 2 inches of 5' 9" tall.