Ghrelin Levels in Children With Poor Growth

Inclusion Criteria

• •To be included in the short stature group, subjects must have had short stature, defined height less than -2 SD for gender and age or an abnormal growth velocity for gender and age).
• •To be included in the failure-to-thrive group, subjects must have had poor weight gain, defined as weight less than -2 SD for gender and age or an abnormal weight velocity for gender and age.
• •Patients in both groups will be evaluated for the presence of chronic gastrointestinal symptoms, defined as symptoms of gastrointestinal disease for greater than 6 weeks or recurrent symptoms. Patients who were affected in both weight and height will be stratified by which measurement was more severely affected, with poor weight gain being the primary problem in the "failure-to-thrive" grouping (Group 2) and "poor linear growth" being the primary problem in the short stature group (Group 1).
• •Patients who have had chronic gastrointestinal symptoms, defined as symptoms of gastrointestinal disease for greater than 6 weeks or recurrent symptoms, but normal stature and growth, will be analyzed separately (Group 3).