Idiopathic short stature

Idiopathic short stature means that someone is smaller than other people their age but doctors don't know why. It's like a mystery! Your mom and dad might be taller than you, and that's okay. Sometimes, people are just naturally shorter than others. It doesn't mean that anything is wrong with them.

Doctors can do some tests to make sure that there aren't any health problems that are making someone shorter, like not getting enough food or not making enough of a special hormone that helps you grow tall. If everything seems okay, then doctors might call it idiopathic short stature. It's just a fancy way of saying that someone is shorter than other people their age, but it's not because there's anything wrong with them.