Influences of Socioeconomic Status on Short Stature in Childhood

Objectives Short stature in childhood is defined to the cases in which the stature is below 3 percentiles of the standard value in accordance with that of those in the same age and gender group. The influence of the socioeconomic status on the short stature in childhood are analyzed. Methods 154 children from the community child center in a region of poor socioeconomic status and 78 children in normal socioeconomic status who visited the Busan Medical Center due to the issue of short stature were selected for examination and analysis. Results The prevalence rate of short stature at the community child center in 2 municipalities in Busan was confirmed to be 7.3%. In the comparison of the average growth parameters of poor socioeconomic status and normal socioeconomic status in the short stature group, there was no observation of significant difference in terms of the chronological age, mid-parental height, bone age, bone age/chronological age, height standard deviation score (SDS), body mass index(BMI) percentile and insulin like growth factor binding protein 3 (IGFBP3) SDS. In the short stature suspicious group, there was observation of significant difference in the averages of bone age, weight, BMI percentile, IGFBP3 and IGFBP3 SDS. Conclusions Although the prevalence rate of short stature in children belonging to the poor socioeconomic class was observed to be higher than the existing results, there was no significant difference in the growth parameters associated with the growth of the height from those of the children in normal socioeconomic status.