RÉSUMÉ
Objective:To survey bone age, vitamin A, vitamin D and IGF-1 levels among stunted children, and to explore the clinical values.Methods:The experimental group was composed of 200 stunted children who visited the growth retardation clinic of Jiangning Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University between October 2017 and October 2019.The control group consisted of 200 children of normal height during the same period.The differences of developmental level, the qualified rates of serum vitamin A and vitamin D, and the number of the children whose serum IGF-1 at or above the median and their corresponding measurements were compared between the two groups.Results:Totally, 26% of the experimental group fell behind normal children by two years in their bone ages, as compared with 12% of control group.The differences in developmental levels of bone ages between the two groups were statistically significant( χ2=12.74, t=5.42、7.92, P<0.01). Compared with the control group, the experimental group had obviously lower rates of vitamin A and vitamin D levels( χ2=26.85、13.65, t=8.45、12.47, P<0.01). A total of 88 children (44%) of the experimental group had serum IGF-1 levels at or above the median, as compared with 138 children (69%) of the control group( χ2=25.43, t=32.31, P<0.01). Conclusion:This finding supports the potential use of the bone age, vitamin A and D status and IGF-1 levels in growth retardation screening among children.