Short Stature in Children with Cerebral Palsy

Abstract

Growth in children is complex. Externally, growth is determined by changes in height, in weight, and in features of physical maturation such as body shape, body composition, and secondary sexual characteristics. Internally, growth is a churning interplay of many biochemical and physiological systems. Nutrition, metabolism, and hormones integrate with neuronal pathways and physiology in the developing brain, allowing adaptation to the environment and future reproductive capacity. In children with cerebral palsy, assessment of growth has several challenges. Anthropometric measurements, for example, are difficult to obtain because of contractures and other bodily deformities. There are also limitations in our understanding of how maturational descriptors of growth such as bone age, bone mineral density, and body composition are