The importance of accurate anthropometry cannot be overemphasised and, in the early assessment, it is mandatory to establish the parental pattern of growth and also the age at which puberty was entered. The mid parental height, adjusted for the sex of the patient, enables the clinician to gain an estimate of the expected final height of the individual and, by using a height distance chart, to determine whether the child is on course to achieve this. The estimation of skeletal maturity, usually by radiography of the child's wrist, is essential in the assessment of growth prognosis of the likely final height.
