Growing is an essential part of childhood. Children's most dramatic growth phases occur during fetal development, the first few years of life, and at the onset of puberty. The rate at which a child grows is an individual process, based partly on heredity, gender, and environmental factors such as nutrition.

However, growth can be affected and, sometimes, stopped by many disorders and diseases, including the following:

• hormone deficiencies
• nutritional deficiencies
• intestinal disorders
• kidney, lung, and heart diseases
• bone disorders
• diabetes or other blood sugar disorders
• any severe form of a disease
• severe stress or emotional trauma

Growth problems can cause a child to feel self-conscious. Special attention needs to be paid to boosting a child's self-esteem when facing a growth problem and pointing out the child's other abilities, regardless of size.

Listed in the directory below you will find some additional information about growth in children, for which we have provided a brief overview.

If you cannot find the information in which you are interested, please visit the Diabetes & Other Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders Online Resources page in this Web site for an Internet/World Wide Web address that may contain additional information on that topic.