Height is usually plotted on a standard percentile chart for distance (Fig. 14.4). This chart is no more than a description of the height in the population (in this case, the population of the UK). Fifty per cent of girls aged four years have a height above 100cm, while the remaining fifty per cent have a height below 100cm. Three per cent of all girls aged four years measure less than 92cm, and the growth of the majority of these is not abnormal. The position of the height of a child on the percentile chart at any time depends upon genetic and environmental factors, most of which are beyond the control of physicians.
