الفهرس 
IntroductionOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Assessment of a child‘s height and weight is well established as an indicator of his or her general health and well-being. Such assessment can also lead to the identification of treatable disorders in the apparently normal child. Early detection and diagnosis of causes of short stature help to optimize final adult height and minimize the impact of any underlying health condition. However, children are frequently diagnosed at a late age. In children the three most commonly used anthropometric indices to assess their growth status are weight-for-height, height-for-age and weight-for-age. Low height-for-age: Stunted growth reflects a process of failure to reach linear growth potential as a result of suboptimal health and/or nutritional conditions. For older children, it reflects a state of ”having failed to grow” or ”being stunted”. Stunting is defined as height-for-age z-score (HAZ) of equal to or less than minus two standard deviation )2SD) below the mean of a reference standard. Stunted growth is one of the most common concerns presenting to pediatric endocrinologists and other physicians caring for children. Stunting results from complex interaction of household, environmental, socioeconomic and cultural influences that are described in the world health organization (WHO) conceptual framework on childhood stunting. In 2010, it is estimated that 171 million children (167 million in developing countries) were stunted. Globally, childhood stunting decreased from 39.7% (95% CI 38.1, 41.4) in 1990 to 26.7% (95% CI