title: When do short children realize they are short? Prepubertal short children's perception of height during 24 months of catch-up growth hormone treatment.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine perceived height during the first 24 months of growth hormone (GH) treatment in short prepubertal children.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-nine 3- to 11-year-old short prepubertal children with either isolated GH deficiency (n = 32) or idiopathic short stature (n = 67) participated in a 24-month randomized trial of individualized or fixed-dose GH treatment. Children's and parents' responses to three perceived height measures: relative height (Silhouette Apperception Test), sense of height (VAS short/tall), and judgment of appropriate height (yes/no) were compared to measured height.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children and parents overestimated height at start (72%, 54%) and at 24 months (52%, 30%). Short children described themselves as tall until 8.2 years (girls) and 9 years (boys). Prior to treatment, 38% of children described their height as appropriate and at 3 months, 63%. Mother's height, parental sense of the child's tallness and age explained more variance in children's sense of tallness (34%) than measured height (0%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Short children and parents overestimate height; a pivotal age exists for comparative height judgments. Even a small gain in height may be enough for the child to feel an appropriate age-related height has been reached and to no longer feel short.
authors.affiliation: Göteborg Pediatric Growth Research Centre, Institute of Clinical Science, Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. john.chaplin@vgregion.se
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Chaplin
authors.forename: Berit
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kriström
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jonsson
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Halldin Stenlid
authors.forename: A Stefan
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Aronson
authors.forename: Jovanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dahlgren
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Albertsson-Wikland
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D001827:Body Height / Q000187:drug effects*; D001828:Body Image; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology*; D020249:Hormone Replacement Therapy; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019382:Human Growth Hormone