Does Cd Permanently Stunt Growth?

[carrielynn]

Hi... please excuse this anxious post, but I've become a bit worried.

My son was diagnosed at age 5 with celiac disease. We've kept him gluten-free since mid-July. His mood and energy are great now. His skin looks a little better. My husband and I are just starting to "wake up" to the fact that he may have been suffering from celiac disease for a long time, maybe all his life (he's had so many "little problems" along the way and we're connecting the dots). I don't think celiac disease has affected his intellect at all. He seems like a smart little guy. But his height and weight are definitely stunted and he looks like a 3-4 year old and still wears 3-4 year old clothing.

My question is, is it possible that he'll catch up in height, or has celiac disease permanently stunted his growth? I don't know if it's possible for him to catch up or not. I realize this is an anxious question, but I have no information here. We're waiting for his first gastro appointment. (He was diagnosed by an alternative doctor. We spent many years and thousands of dollars seeing MD's who treated only his symptoms.)

He's being teased (ALREADY) by other kindergarteners at school about his size, so that's another reason for my anxiety. He's having a hard time with that.

If your child had delayed growth and then experienced a growth spurt after going gluten-free, please let me know. Tell me the age when your child was diagnosed and when you noticed the growth spurt. I appreciate any and all stories.

Carrie... who could use a stiff drink right now

[tarnalberry]

My understanding is that if nutritional problems causing short stature are caught early, there is a very good chance the effect can be corrected. No guarantees, and no promises on it happening quickly, but he's got more than a decade of growing ahead of him to catch up.

[Jnkmnky]

Teased already??? Gee, my son is 7 and in the first grade this year. He did kinder twice. He's the same size NOW as his classmates since being left back. But still one of the smaller kids. No one teases him. I'm shocked to hear that the kids are that aware at that age. I would talk to the teacher and make any harrassment stop right now. Kids can be quite humbled at that age by a firm talking to by an authority figure.

As for his size... Well, I think he may be on the small end for good. I could be wrong, but I think a being deprived of vital nutrients during these initial growth years has to have a permanent impact. It only makes sense. Just be happy that you've discovered it now and are doing what is necessary. I've heard of boys who are dx later in the teen years and were suffering socially from delayed secondary male characteristics...not hitting puberty on time. Short's not so bad when you consider some of the other complications of not getting the nutrition your body requires to grow.

Try to equate the teasing over his height as teasing over wearing glasses, or having lot of freckles. You don't want your son to blame his LIFE-LONG disease for his hurt feelings. He needs to be *friendly*, not hostile towards this disease. It's not going away. Put the blame on the other kids and their lack of manners, have a teacher address it, and keep the negatives of celiac disease in the hazy, hazy background for now. My son has lots of celiac disease awareness shirts that he wears proudly to school. Some are quite cute, with the "silly-yak" looking all goofy on them. It helps the other kids see the disease as a real issue, but as a light-hearted issue.

[celiac3270]

He will catch up. That's what I've been doing--my growth on the chart is nearly straight up...jumping many percentiles with ove 40 pounds gained in the last few months. The dr. is just wondering when it'll slow down because at this rate I'll be 6'4" at age 17--lol, I won't be. More like 6'. The interesting thing he told me is to keep eating--a lot. He said that eating a lot drives up your weight, which will drive up your height. In other words, in order for me to get tall, he'd rather that I keep gaining (I'm at the 25th percentile now--even if I eventually get a little overweight cause it will make me taller...

[Jnkmnky]

Optimism is great, but it has to be tempered with a dash of realism. A young child who has significant growth issues is NOT likely to make up all he missed. celiac3270, was your celiac triggered even at a very young age? Or did it kick in after being a toddler? I think this makes a difference. There are large Celiacs out there, but they probably didn't have the disease triggered from such a very young age. From birth to 3 my son was sick. He is small as a result. It's been four years. He's not going to grow to his full 'at birth' potential due to the starvation he endured for the first three years. It's not so bad, though. It's way better than so many other things that could have been his reality.

[carrielynn]

He will catch up.  That's what I've been doing--my growth on the chart is nearly straight up...jumping many percentiles with ove 40 pounds gained in the last few months.  The dr. is just wondering when it'll slow down because at this rate I'll be 6'4" at age 17--lol, I won't be.  More like 6'.  The interesting thing he told me is to keep eating--a lot.  He said that eating a lot drives up your weight, which will drive up your height.  In other words, in order for me to get tall, he'd rather that I keep gaining (I'm at the 25th percentile now--even if I eventually get a little overweight cause it will make me taller...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

celiac3270,

Were you a very small child all your life? How long did you have celiac disease before it was diagnosed? After you went gluten-free, how long did it take before you started growing?

My 5-year-old son has the size of a 3-year-old... he's 41 inches and 36 pounds. Now that we're connecting dots, we've realized he's been on the low end of "normal" for YEARS. Seems like his growth started slowing down when he was 1-2 years old. I remember bringing this up with his doctor 2 years ago (his big brother's hand-me-downs weren't tracking properly with his age) and the doc pointed out that he was still on the charts (very low end) and that his growth was consistently up so he wasn't worried. My son didn't start out on the low end -- was at 50% height when he was born. The problem is, my son never presented with the "classic" celiac disease symptoms. He NEVER had diarrhea. He ate pretty well. The dots that we are now connecting are: a really bad case of eczema, constipation, and fatigue/moodiness. We thought he'd outgrow the eczema since his brother had, but instead it got worse and worse and worse until he started breaking out in little sores. We didn't know what was going on with the constipation and fatigue/moodiness, but those symptoms sure weren't signs of my version of celiac (at the time), so we never considered that.

We have bent over backwards all these years to feed him lots of fruits and vegetables. He's a decent eater. And now to find out that he's probably been malnourished! Isn't that cruelly ironic?

Thanks so much for your input.

Carrie

[Jnkmnky]

Carrielynn,

You mention your son not having cognitive delays and that's great. Would you consider having him stay back a year to facilitate the social goals of school? If his gait is that of a much younger child, that might not improve and be on par with the other kids for some years. That kind of issue is important because it may keep a kid from participating in an effective way wtih his peers. I notice my son is right where he needs to be now that he's been held back a year. We had our son do kinder twice even though his first teacher said he scored well enough to pass into first grade. He simply wouldn't have had social success for years to come if I'd allowed him to move forward at that point. So they put him in a k-1 class the following year to keep an eye on his development and have the new teacher's professional opinion in the mix with mine. From the onset, she was onboard with my goals for my son. He was clearly not able to keep up physically with the first grade classmates. She said he chose interactions with the younger kids, fit in better socially with them, needed to be in their P.E. class, (they separated the P.E. into two sections), but was placed in the first grade reading group and did first grade math worksheets.

I'm not anti-education in favor of all things social- But I think the social aspects of school are essential to enjoying school. It's a 13 year "career" and many people overlook that fact. Who wants a "job" that they HATE going to everyday for 13 years?! My son is so SO happy this year. He has made friends with two boys this year, already. They eat lunch together everyday and plan playground equipment assaults with scary enthusiasm. As a result, I'M having a great school year...finally! It's a huge difference from all the worrying. I'm not telling you what to do, I just wanted to share the positives of my solution.

[mommida]

The slow or stunted growth associated with Celiac disease is most likely due to a calcium defiency. Another reason for the calcium defiency, on a gluten diet, the celiac can not absorb the fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamin D (critical in the absorbtion of calcium).

The good news... The body can repair itself. The bone density in children is shown to return to normal on a gluten free diet.

A bone density test is recommended to determine the degree of bone loss.

The above information is from the book Kids with Celiac Disease by Danna Korn.

The following is my opinion...

Your son has a very good chance of catching up in growth. If you have concerns check with your doctor for other causes of the slow growth. Give the gluten free diet, and time a chance. Research into this subject deeper, and know that there are options out there for treatment, if necessary.

Laura

[carrielynn]

Carrielynn,

You mention your son not having cognitive delays and that's great.  Would you consider having him stay back a year to facilitate the social goals of school?  If his gait is that of a much younger child, that might not improve and be on par with the other kids for some years.  That kind of issue is important because it may keep a kid from participating in an effective way wtih his peers. I notice my son is right where he needs to be now that he's been held back a year.  We had our son do kinder twice even though his first teacher said he scored well enough to pass into first grade.  He simply wouldn't have had social success for years to come if I'd allowed him to move forward at that point.  So they put him in a k-1 class the following year to keep an eye on his development and have the new teacher's professional opinion in the mix with mine.  From the onset, she was onboard with my goals for my son. He was clearly not able to keep up physically with the first grade classmates.  She said he chose interactions with the younger kids, fit in better socially with them, needed to be in their P.E. class, (they separated the P.E. into two sections), but was placed in the first grade reading group and did first grade math worksheets.

I'm not anti-education in favor of all things social- But I think the social aspects of school are essential to enjoying school. It's a 13 year "career" and many people overlook that fact.  Who wants a "job" that they HATE going to everyday for 13 years?!  My son is so SO happy this year.  He has made friends with two boys this year, already.  They eat lunch together everyday and plan playground equipment assaults with scary enthusiasm.  As a result, I'M having a great school year...finally!  It's a huge difference from all the worrying.  I'm not telling you what to do, I just wanted to share the positives of my solution.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We will hold him back if that's the right thing to do at the end of this year. We had him evaluated by a professional yesterday and she noted that he has hit all his milestones except for the physical development. He's been asking to have some of his new friends from kindergarten over to our house, so he's sociable with them. We've got the entire year ahead of us, so if it's obvious that he needs to remain in kindergarten, then we'll do it. I think it's too soon to make that decision now.

My other child is just below average height, and I don't think he has celiac disease (we're going to have him tested). So we may just have shorter-than-average boys. I was just worried that the celiac disease was going to make him even shorter.

--Carrie

[carrielynn]

The slow or stunted growth associated with Celiac disease is most likely due to a calcium defiency.  Another reason for the calcium defiency, on a gluten diet, the celiac can not absorb the fat-soluble vitamins, including vitamin D (critical in the absorbtion of calcium).

The good news... The body can repair itself.  The bone density in children is shown to return to normal on a gluten free diet.

A bone density test is recommended to determine the degree of bone loss.

The above information is from the book Kids with Celiac Disease by Danna Korn.

The following is my opinion...

Your son has a very good chance of catching up in growth.  If you have concerns check with your doctor for other causes of the slow growth.  Give the gluten free diet, and time a chance.  Research into this subject deeper, and know that there are options out there for treatment, if necessary.

Laura

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'll have to check out the Kids with Celiac Disease book. We will talk to the gastro doctor about the growth issues when we have the appointment.

It is so ironic. All these years we have been feeding our kids so HEALTHY. We don't do junk food unless it's literally our last option. My kids eat healthier than most children. Their babysitters are always amazed at what our children eat. And I've been giving them multi-vitamins, including calcium for awhile. And my son LOVES milk, but when we had him allergy tested, milk was off the charts and we were told he wouldn't be able to have milk ever again. I think the nutritionist who saw him is incredibly knowledgeable -- and he was the ONLY person to find the problem, after we saw numerous MD's. But now I'm reading that the milk thing could have been affected by the celiac disease and once his gut heals we can re-introduce it. (I'm bringing this issue up with the gastro.)

In the meantime I've been giving both kids soy and rice milk, plus calcium supplements.

Thank you again for the pointer to the Kids with Celiac book.

Carrie

[mommida]

It is my pleasure to help.

You did ask about growth and age of diagnoses of other children. My daughter was diagnosed at 17 months. She did not gain any weight form 7 months til the start of the gluten free diet at about 16 months. (She lost weight during that time and her height did keep creeping up slowly.) She had a major growth spurt and weight gain about 3 months on the gluten free diet. I won't even look at the percentiles and growth charts to compare, just that she is steadily growing from her last measurements.

Laura

[celiac3270]

As a baby/toddler I was tall...then I fell back to middle of the class. By diagnosis I was shorter than most kids, but not REALLY short...just on the very low end of "average" or one of the less short short people, lol. I'm just saying, though, that I did spurt up and am still growing rapidly...I may not end up as tall as I would have been, but I'll still be at least 5'10", 5'11" (according to the doctor)...

[Indea88]

My 2 year old has just been diagnosed but his been gluten-free for about three months. His length hasnt been affected at least I dont think so hes 40 in. in the 75% it is his weight that has been affected not gaining and losing as well. I have had quite a few comments about him gaining weight. from people who hadnt known hes gluten-free

[ryebaby0]

My son was very small -- barely 5 lbs. -- at his 36 week birth. He stayed small (but on the charts, probably at 10-15%) right through his dx at age 10.(at which point he had fallen off the charts completely) He was deficient in nearly all categories of nutrients but especially zinc and iron. Without zinc, a child cannot grow (I didn't know that either) so he took supplements for that for about 6 months (drinkable, no worse than amoxicillin)

Anyhow, he turns 12 next week and is now in the 50-75% for height. He's grown almost 4.5 " in a year. Two shoes sizes. Would he have done it anyway? Don't know. Don't think so! Make sure they do a blood test for zinc!

Hope that helps!

Joanna

[elisabet]

Hi,..My son was always alittle bit smaler than his age group,when he was a baby the doctor said the reason is that I am breast feeding him and babys who are breast feeded are smaller than those who aren t.He is 13 now we started gfdf diet scinse last september and now he is among the taller kids in his class,most his growth has happened during the last six month.

best of luck eisabet

Hi... please excuse this anxious post, but I've become a bit worried.

My son was diagnosed at age 5 with celiac disease.  We've kept him gluten-free since mid-July.  His mood and energy are great now.  His skin looks a little better.  My husband and I are just starting to "wake up" to the fact that he may have been suffering from celiac disease for a long time, maybe all his life (he's had so many "little problems" along the way and we're connecting the dots).  I don't think celiac disease has affected his intellect at all.  He seems like a smart little guy.  But his height and weight are definitely stunted and he looks like a 3-4 year old and still wears 3-4 year old clothing.

My question is, is it possible that he'll catch up in height, or has celiac disease permanently stunted his growth?  I don't know if it's possible for him to catch up or not.  I realize this is an anxious question, but I have no information here.  We're waiting for his first gastro appointment. (He was diagnosed by an alternative doctor.  We spent many years and thousands of dollars seeing MD's who treated only his symptoms.)

He's being teased (ALREADY) by other kindergarteners at school about his size, so that's another reason for my anxiety.  He's having a hard time with that.

If your child had delayed growth and then experienced a growth spurt after going gluten-free, please let me know.  Tell me the age when your child was diagnosed and when you noticed the growth spurt.  I appreciate any and all stories.

Carrie... who could use a stiff drink right now

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[carrielynn]

My son was very small -- barely 5 lbs. -- at his 36 week birth. He stayed small (but on the charts, probably at 10-15%)  right through his dx at age 10.(at which point he had fallen off the charts completely)  He was deficient in nearly all categories of nutrients but especially zinc and iron. Without zinc, a child cannot grow (I didn't know that either) so he took supplements for that for about 6 months (drinkable, no worse than amoxicillin)

Anyhow, he turns 12 next week and is now in the 50-75% for height. He's grown almost 4.5 " in a year. Two shoes sizes. Would he have done it anyway? Don't know. Don't think so! Make sure they do a blood test for zinc!

Hope that helps!

Joanna

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It is so hard to know whether the gluten-free diet is respondible for the growth spurt or not. I would like to think it was. Thank you for letting me know your experience. It sounds like your son had celiac for awhile before being diagnosed. I'm glad we're not the only one... we've been going to doctors for years about his worsening eczema with no resolution. I'm still dealing with anger against the doctors, but that's another story.

As for the zinc, I just started giving my son some zinc supplements, but he doesn't like them at all. I will bring up zinc with the gastro doctor when we see him in a week or so. There's some zinc in his multivitamin, but I don't know if it's enough. He eats really well, so hopefully he's getting some zinc there.

Carrie

[carrielynn]

Hi,..My son was always alittle bit smaler than his age group,when he was a baby the doctor said the reason is that I am breast feeding him and babys who are breast feeded are smaller than those who aren t.He is 13 now we started gfdf diet scinse last september and now he is among the taller kids in his class,most his growth has happened during the last six month.

    best of luck  eisabet

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wow. Interesting. How long do you think your son had been dealing with the celiac problem before it was diagnosed?

This is all giving me some hope. I know my son isn't going to be a very tall person anyway, given our genes. I just didn't want the celiac disease to permanently cause damage.

Carrie

[elisabet]

Wow.  Interesting.  How long do you think your son had been dealing with the celiac problem before it was diagnosed?

This is all giving me some hope.  I know my son isn't going to be a very tall person anyway, given our genes.  I just didn't want the celiac disease to permanently cause damage.

Carrie

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi again, I don t really know,but he had dry skin and bad sinus as far as I can remember.so maybe 10 years or so,you said that your son always had little problems,can you tell me like what?

The reason that we thought about gluten,was that my son started to loose his hair ,2 years ago,it took 1 year til we came to the idea of gluten.

elisabet

[connole1056]

Am I the only one who thinks it is sad that the parents who seem to be most concerned with their child's weight are the parents of small children? It used to be that the fat kids got made fun of, now it's the small ones. I am NOT condoning it, but when I was younger it was unusual to see overweight children so they were always made of because they were different. Now there is an epidemic of childhood obesity so normal weight and small kids are the ones being targeted. It's very strange. I would much rather be underweight than overweight, and I feel the same ablout my daughters.

I think it is more difficult for boys who are small than for girls who are small. However, it should be kept in mind that because so many people are overweight, the clothing sizes have been changed. What used to be a 4T is now a 3T. Some of the old 5T's are even 3T's now. My daughters are 7 years apart, and the clothing change for children took place in between their births, so when I look at some of the clothes I had saved from my first daughter and compare them to the "same" size clothes of my second daughter, the difference is amazing!! My youngest daughter is not even the celiac but she is a few ponds less than her sister was at the same age. She is 4 1/2 and is just getting into a 3T. She is 28 lbs, so I have heard just about every rude comment there is regarding her size. I would never comment to the parent of a fat child that their kid was unhealthy, so I used to get very upset when I was questioned about my daughter. Now I just blow it off. I cannot let myself get upset by rude people.

That said, it is natural to worry about our children. It took my oldest daughter a few years to fill out after going gluten-free. She is now in about the 20-25th percentile for height and weight at 11 1/2 years old. For reference, she is 67 lbs. and 4'6", and wears mostly size 8 clothing, but some size 10's in certain brands. Both girls are perfectly healthy and that is my first concern. If they get made fun of, they deal with it. I do not worry too much about it because it is natural for kids to pick on one another. It is part of socialization and growing up. However, incessant teasing is a different matter and when that occurs it should be dealt with.

Many of the celiacs I have met did catch up to their peers. But I have never heard it took place quickly. I do think it is much harder for adults than children. Some kids grow amazingly fast during puberty, so one can never tell who the biggest people are going to be by looking at the size of kindergarten children. My brother was the smallest boy at 8th grade graduation and one of the tallest at high school graduation. Those 4 years were amazing! So try not to worry or focus on it!

[ryebaby0]

"Am I the only one who thinks it is sad that the parents who seem to be most concerned with their child's weight are the parents of small children?"

I agree with you that for boys, being small is difficult. We didn't, however, worry about my son's weight/size until he was 9 or 10 and hadn't grown a single inch in about 2 years, and even then it just seemed like his pattern. His celiac diagnosis followed a weight loss of 17# -- he was hospitalized when he hit 47 pounds (he was 10, and a 50th weight would have been about 75 pounds) and stayed in the hospital for 7 weeks.

I know you don't intend to hurt our feelings, but for some of us, weight gain is a very real verification that our children's insides are healing. I look, very much, forward to the day when nobody cares what he weighs. It's not a trivial or incidental or imagined worry.

Joanna

[connole1056]

I certainly did not intend to hurt anyone's feelings! I do not even know what I wrote that could even possibly be construed that way!! In fact I did mention it was natural for a parent to worry about a child! I really do not even know what you quoting me had to do with the rest of what you wrote. The sentence you quoted refers to the fact that it is usually the parents of underweight, not overweight, children who worry, and it would seem like those parents should be worrying about their children's weight! I never said the parent's of the underweight kids have no reason to worry. As the parent of a celiac I am well aware of the connection between a gluten-free diet and weight gain. The point is that most people do catch up eventually, although they may not be in the top percentiles, and therefore celiac disease does not PERMANENTLY stunt growth. And because this is often the case it may ease some parents' worries.

[Jnkmnky]

I don't believe you can make up for all you've lost if it's significant. My son will be small as a result of being starved the first three years of life. If this was something you could magically make up, there wouldn't be an emphasis on proper nutrition to begin with. Getting proper nutrition early on matters. If you were deprived of that nutrition due to an undx disease, then the first thing parents of kids need to do is lobby harder for awareness so this doesn't happen to others. It's so unnecessary. A little effort on the part of the medical community and the best efforts of conscientious parents who seek out excellent nutrition for their kids wouldn't be wasted. Does celiac disease permanently stunt growth?? Well, it certainly gives you a crappy starting point if not dx on time. For those who think that everything can be regained- I hope the power of positive thinking works for you. But is being short really such a tragedy? You can't change height unless you're willing to undergo that bone-breaking procedure... So why stress about it? None of us want our kids to lament the things they can't change. It's not healthy for them..or us.

[ryebaby0]

The sentence you quoted refers to the fact that it is usually the parents of underweight, not overweight, children who worry, and it would seem like those parents should be worrying about their children's weight!

Ohhhhhh..... (sighing.....) I was taking it like "sad" as in "pathetic,pointless, unnecessary", which I think must be a side effect of living with teenagers, since that's the only way I hear it used.... I absolutely already knew you didn't mean to hurt anybody (and I wasn't so much hurt as being sleep deprived and oversensitive to a personal "button issue") but I appreciate the explanation.

Joanna

[carrielynn]

I don't believe you can make up for all you've lost if it's significant.  My son will be small as a result of being starved the first three years of life.  If this was something you could magically make up, there wouldn't be an emphasis on proper nutrition to begin with.  Getting proper nutrition early on matters.  If you were deprived of that nutrition due to an undx disease, then the first thing parents of kids need to do is lobby harder for awareness so this doesn't happen to others.  It's so unnecessary.  A little effort on the part of the medical community and the best efforts of conscientious parents who seek out excellent nutrition for their kids wouldn't be wasted.  Does celiac disease permanently stunt growth??  Well, it certainly gives you a crappy starting point if not dx on time.  For those who think that everything can be regained- I hope the power of positive thinking works for you.  But is being short really such a tragedy?  You can't change height unless you're willing to undergo that bone-breaking procedure...  So why stress about it?  None of us want our kids to lament the things they can't change.  It's not healthy for them..or us.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It would be nice if you (or anyone) could provide a pointer to some research that backs up these beliefs. I would very much appreciate some scientific information about this -- whether it's good news or not. Sure, it makes sense that being malnourished the first 3 years of life could have an effect. But do you know that for a fact -- being malnourished in the early years permanently stunts growth? Maybe it does for some children and not for others. It would be interesting to know. Hey, we all know lots of parents who feed their kids complete JUNK or children who will only eat 3 things and their kids could qualify as being malnourished, but they grow just fine.

I completely agree with you about this situation being unnecessary if the medical community would get with the program and do standard tests on these little kids.

It's not so much the power of positive thinking as it is finding out some good, valid, scientific information to deal with my anxiety about this situation.

And of course being short is not a tragedy, but it certainly provides Yet Another Potential Obstacle for kids in school. I wish this were not the case, but it's human nature. My child is already being teased by some of the Behemoth Kindergarteners and it's not been fun for all of us to deal with on top of everything else. (I'm trying to tell him he's so smart he'll be everyone's boss in 25 years, but he doesn't get it right now.)

Carrie

[Jnkmnky]

we all know lots of parents who feed their kids complete JUNK or children who will only eat 3 things and their kids could qualify as being malnourished, but they grow just fine.

Yeah, well even complete JUNK is fortified with "essential vitamins and minerals" these days. And the kids who qualify as pathologically picky eaters usually don't persist for years...plus, they don't have atrophied villi negating the nutrition they ARE ingesting. Short stature is listed as one of the possible results of undx celiac disease. Also, recent research is pointing a finger towards undx celiac disease being a cause of osteoporosis. Obviously, bones are negatively impacted when they are robbed of adequate nutrition. I haven't looked for hard proof that being starved for the first few years of life leads to short stature. Sometimes common sense is all you need for proof. How long did it take "them" to figure out smoking IS harmful to your health, not just "may be harmful"? I'm not waiting on a scientific, medical study to prove to me that being deprived of nutrition the first three years of life due to malapsorption will stunt your growth a bit. You could find the proof yourself if you're that concerned. I don't care if my son is short. He doesn't care if he's short. He's also been held back a year, so he's fitting in just fine. If your child is short and is being harrassed at school, you can make it stop by having the school authority figures step in. Boys stop growing around the age of 20. You'll just have to wait until then to see how big he's going to get.