Growth Hormone Therapy for Kids in Bakersfield

When your child is shorter than expected or seems to be growing more slowly than other children their age, it can be difficult to know whether to be concerned.

Is your child simply following a shorter family growth pattern?

Are they a late bloomer?

Will a growth spurt happen later?

Or could a medical condition be interfering with normal growth?

Families searching for growth hormone therapy for kids in Bakersfield are often trying to answer these questions before their child reaches the later stages of puberty.

For families throughout Bakersfield, Kern County, Shafter, Wasco, Delano, Tehachapi, Arvin, Lamont, Taft, and surrounding Central California communities, the first step should not automatically be growth hormone treatment.

It should be understanding why the child is growing slowly and how much growth potential remains.

A comprehensive pediatric growth evaluation can examine the child's growth velocity, growth chart, family height, puberty, bone age, IGF-1, medical history, and other factors to determine whether the child is developing normally or whether further evaluation or treatment may be appropriate.[1,2]

Is My Child Actually Too Short?

One of the most common concerns parents have is:

“My child is much shorter than everyone else in the class. Is something wrong?”

Not necessarily.

Children come in a wide range of healthy heights.

Some children remain near the lower percentiles throughout childhood and ultimately reach an adult height that is completely appropriate for their genetics.

Others begin at a higher percentile and gradually fall lower on the growth chart.

That second pattern may deserve more attention.

Instead of asking only:

“What percentile is my child?”

a more useful question is:

“Is my child growing at the rate we would expect?”

That distinction is central to evaluating short stature.

Why Growth Rate Matters More Than One Height Measurement

A single height measurement provides a snapshot.

Growth velocity provides the movie.

Growth velocity describes how much height a child gains over time.

For many school-age children before puberty, approximately 2–2.5 inches per year is common, although expected growth varies with age and developmental stage.[2,3]

During puberty, the rate can accelerate substantially.

Parents may want to investigate further when a child:

• Consistently grows more slowly than expected
• Begins falling across height percentiles
• Has little measurable growth over an extended period
• Does not experience an expected pubertal growth spurt
• Is substantially below their predicted family height range

The trend is often more informative than the child's position on the chart today.

Signs Your Child May Benefit From a Growth Evaluation

Families in Bakersfield may consider having their child's growth evaluated when they notice:

• The same clothes continue fitting year after year
• Younger siblings are catching up in height
• The child is becoming progressively shorter relative to classmates
• Annual physicals show declining height percentiles
• Puberty seems significantly later than expected
• The child looks much younger than peers
• Height is substantially below what would be expected from parental heights
• Previous testing showed low IGF-1
• A previous X-ray showed delayed bone age
• Growth has slowed unexpectedly

None of these findings proves that a child needs HGH.

Instead, they help identify children who may benefit from a more detailed evaluation.

What Causes Slow Growth in Children?

There are many reasons a child may be shorter or growing more slowly than expected.

Some require treatment.

Others do not.

Familial Short Stature

Genetics plays a major role in adult height.

Children with shorter parents often grow along lower height percentiles.

If the child:

• Grows at an appropriate rate
• Remains relatively consistent on the growth chart
• Develops normally
• Is tracking toward a height consistent with family genetics

the pattern may represent familial short stature.

In this situation, being short does not necessarily mean the child has a medical problem.

What If My Child Is Just a Late Bloomer?

Another common explanation is constitutional growth delay.

These children may be shorter during childhood because their skeletal development and puberty occur later than average.

They may:

• Look younger than classmates
• Enter puberty later
• Have delayed bone age
• Experience their major growth spurt later
• Continue growing after many peers have stopped

There is often a family history of delayed puberty.

A father might remember growing significantly after high school classmates had already stopped, or a mother may remember beginning puberty later than her friends.

Many children with constitutional growth delay ultimately experience spontaneous catch-up growth.[4]

This is why distinguishing a late bloomer from a child with a growth disorder is so important.

Growth Hormone Deficiency in Children

Growth hormone deficiency is a medical condition in which inadequate growth hormone activity contributes to impaired childhood growth.

Children with GHD may demonstrate:

• Poor growth velocity
• Progressive decline in height percentile
• Significant short stature
• Delayed bone age
• Low IGF-1 in some cases

However:

Most children who are short do not have growth hormone deficiency.

Growth hormone deficiency should therefore be diagnosed using a combination of growth history, physical development, laboratory findings, skeletal maturity, and specialized testing when appropriate.[1,2]

Other Medical Conditions Can Affect Growth

Hormones are only one part of childhood growth.

Slow growth can sometimes be associated with:

• Hypothyroidism
• Celiac disease
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Chronic kidney disease
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Inadequate calorie intake
• Chronic inflammatory conditions
• Certain genetic disorders
• Other chronic illnesses

This is why an appropriate growth evaluation should look beyond HGH.

Sometimes the most important outcome is identifying another medical issue that is interfering with development.

How Growth Hormone Helps Children Grow

Human growth hormone is naturally produced by the pituitary gland, a small endocrine gland located near the base of the brain.

Growth hormone is secreted in pulses, with important secretion occurring during sleep.

GH promotes the production and activity of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), which plays an important role in stimulating the growth plates of developing bones.

The process can be simplified as:

Pituitary gland → Growth hormone → IGF-1 → Growth plates → Linear growth

As long as the growth plates remain active, long bones can continue lengthening.

During puberty, skeletal maturation gradually progresses until the growth plates eventually fuse.

Once they are completely fused:

Growth hormone cannot reopen them or create additional long-bone height.

This is one of the reasons timing matters when evaluating older children and teenagers.

Who May Qualify for Pediatric Growth Hormone Therapy?

Recombinant human growth hormone is an established medical treatment for specific pediatric growth conditions.

Depending on the child's diagnosis, HGH may be considered for conditions including:

• Growth hormone deficiency
• Selected cases of idiopathic short stature
• Persistent short stature in some children born small for gestational age
• Turner syndrome
• SHOX deficiency
• Certain other recognized pediatric growth disorders

Treatment decisions should be individualized rather than based solely on a child's height.[2]

Two children can be the same age and exact same height yet have completely different treatment recommendations.

What Is Idiopathic Short Stature?

Idiopathic short stature generally refers to significant short stature when another identifiable disease explaining the child's height has not been established.

It does not mean that every short child should receive HGH.

For children without classic growth hormone deficiency, clinicians may consider factors such as:

• Severity of short stature
• Growth velocity
• Family target height
• Predicted adult height
• Bone age
• Pubertal development
• Remaining growth potential
• Expected treatment response
• Treatment burden
• Family goals

Current pediatric guidance supports individualized decision-making rather than routinely treating every child simply because their height falls below a particular threshold.[2]

Pediatric Growth Evaluation in Bakersfield: What Should Be Checked?

A comprehensive evaluation should attempt to answer several different questions.

How Fast Is the Child Growing?

Previous measurements are used to calculate growth velocity.

Has the Child Changed Percentiles?

A progressive decline may be more concerning than remaining steadily short.

How Tall Are the Parents?

Parental heights provide an estimate of the child's genetic target-height range.

Where Is the Child in Puberty?

Puberty strongly influences current and future growth.

How Mature Is the Skeleton?

Bone age can provide information about skeletal development.

Are There Signs of an Underlying Medical Problem?

Laboratory testing may be appropriate depending on the child's history.

When these pieces are evaluated together, parents can develop a much clearer picture of their child's remaining growth potential.

Why Parents Should Bring Old Growth Charts

One of the most valuable resources during a pediatric growth evaluation may be information parents already have.

Previous growth charts can reveal whether a child:

• Has always been short
• Has maintained the same percentile
• Recently started growing more slowly
• Has been progressively dropping percentiles

A child's current height alone cannot provide this information.

Families should consider obtaining growth records from previous pediatricians whenever possible.

Even several years of annual physical measurements can be extremely helpful.

Understanding Genetic Height Potential

Children do not inherit a guaranteed final height from their parents.

However, parental heights can be used to estimate a midparental target height.

This provides a general reference for expected adult stature.

A child who is relatively short but tracking appropriately for two shorter parents may have a reassuring growth pattern.

A child whose projected height appears substantially below what would be expected from family genetics may deserve additional investigation.

Genetics provides context—but it should not automatically be used to dismiss poor growth.

Bone Age X-Rays for Bakersfield-Area Children

A bone age X-ray is commonly used when evaluating children with growth or puberty concerns.

Typically, an X-ray of the left hand and wrist is compared with standardized references for skeletal maturity.

Bone age can help clinicians evaluate:

• How mature the child's skeleton is
• Whether skeletal development is delayed
• Whether skeletal maturation is advanced
• How much growth may remain
• Whether puberty timing is influencing height
• Predicted adult height

Bone age can become especially important when evaluating adolescents.

Chronological Age and Bone Age Are Not the Same Thing

A child's birthday tells you chronological age.

It does not necessarily tell you biological maturity.

Consider two 14-year-old boys.

One has recently entered puberty and has delayed skeletal maturation.

The other began puberty much earlier and is approaching skeletal maturity.

Although both are 14 years old, their remaining growth potential could be dramatically different.

This is why parents asking:

“Is 14 too late for growth hormone?”

should not rely on chronological age alone.

The more important questions include:

• What is the bone age?
• What stage of puberty has been reached?
• How quickly is the child growing?
• Are the growth plates still active?
• What is causing the short stature?

Does Delayed Bone Age Mean My Child Will Grow More?

Potentially.

A delayed bone age means the skeleton is less mature than would typically be expected for chronological age.

This can sometimes indicate a longer remaining growth window.

Delayed bone age may be seen with:

• Constitutional growth delay
• Growth hormone deficiency
• Hypothyroidism
• Nutritional problems
• Chronic illness
• Other endocrine conditions

However:

Delayed bone age does not automatically mean a child will reach a certain height or that HGH is needed.

The underlying cause still matters.

Laboratory Testing for Poor Growth

Testing should be individualized.

Depending on the child's growth pattern and medical history, clinicians may consider tests such as:

• IGF-1
• IGFBP-3
• TSH
• Free T4
• Complete blood count
• Comprehensive metabolic panel
• Celiac screening
• Inflammatory markers
• Other endocrine testing when indicated

The purpose is not simply to find a reason to prescribe HGH.

The purpose is to determine why the child is growing differently than expected.

What Does Low IGF-1 Mean?

IGF-1 is commonly evaluated in children with possible growth hormone-related concerns.

Low IGF-1 can be associated with inadequate GH activity, but it does not independently diagnose growth hormone deficiency.

IGF-1 can also be affected by:

• Age
• Pubertal stage
• Nutrition
• Chronic disease
• General health

Therefore:

Low IGF-1 + poor growth velocity may be more meaningful than an isolated low IGF-1 result in a normally growing child.[1]

Why a Random Growth Hormone Test Is Usually Not Enough

Parents sometimes ask why a doctor cannot simply order a blood test and determine whether growth hormone is low.

The problem is that GH is secreted in pulses.

A perfectly healthy child can have a very low growth hormone level between pulses.

For that reason, random GH measurements are generally not useful for diagnosing growth hormone deficiency.[1]

When the overall clinical picture raises concern for GHD, growth hormone stimulation testing may sometimes be recommended.

This testing measures GH response after pharmacologic stimulation.

Even then, results should be interpreted alongside the child's growth history and other clinical findings.[1,2]

Growth Hormone Therapy for a 10-, 11-, or 12-Year-Old

Parents often begin noticing height differences more clearly during the later elementary and middle school years.

This can also be a useful time to evaluate growth because many children still have substantial skeletal development remaining.

The evaluation can help determine whether the child:

• Is following family genetics
• Is a late bloomer
• Has delayed bone age
• Is entering puberty normally
• Has poor growth velocity
• Shows evidence of an endocrine or medical problem

When treatment is medically appropriate, beginning with a meaningful remaining growth window may provide more opportunity to influence growth than waiting until late adolescence.

Growth Hormone Therapy for a 13- or 14-Year-Old in Bakersfield

Height differences often become particularly noticeable during middle school and high school.

Some teenagers have already experienced a major pubertal growth spurt.

Others have barely started.

A 13- or 14-year-old who remains short may still have substantial growth ahead—particularly when puberty and bone age are delayed.

For these teenagers, evaluation may focus heavily on:

• Current growth velocity
• Bone age
• Pubertal stage
• Growth plate maturity
• Predicted adult height
• Underlying diagnosis

Fourteen is not automatically “too late.”

But the remaining growth window needs to be assessed individually.

What About HGH for a 15- or 16-Year-Old?

Some 15- and 16-year-olds continue to grow.

Others are approaching final adult height.

The difference often relates to skeletal maturity and puberty.

A teenager with delayed bone age may still have meaningful growth remaining, while another teenager of the same age may have growth plates approaching fusion.

At these ages, evaluating the remaining growth window becomes increasingly important.

Growth Hormone Therapy for Boys in Bakersfield

Boys generally enter their pubertal growth spurt later than girls.

Parents may become concerned when a 13- or 14-year-old boy remains much shorter than classmates who have already entered puberty.

Sometimes this reflects delayed development rather than disease.

Other times, poor growth velocity or other findings may justify additional evaluation.

Bone age and puberty stage can help distinguish these patterns.

Growth Hormone Therapy for Girls in Bakersfield

Girls generally enter puberty and experience their major growth acceleration earlier than boys.

Because skeletal maturation also occurs earlier, evaluating persistent growth concerns before the later stages of puberty can be particularly important.

For girls with significant short stature or poor growth velocity, clinicians may review:

• Timing of breast development
• Menstrual history when applicable
• Growth velocity
• Bone age
• Family height
• Laboratory findings
• Remaining skeletal growth

Chronological age alone cannot determine whether meaningful growth remains.

What Does HGH Treatment Involve?

When recombinant human growth hormone is medically appropriate, treatment is generally administered through subcutaneous injections.

Treatment response is assessed over time.

Monitoring may include:

• Height
• Weight
• Growth velocity
• IGF-1
• Pubertal development
• Thyroid function when indicated
• Bone age when appropriate
• Treatment adherence
• Potential adverse effects

Dose requirements may change as a child grows.

Growth hormone treatment should therefore be considered an ongoing medical program, not simply a prescription.

How Do We Know Whether HGH Is Working?

The child's growth rate before and after treatment provides valuable information.

Clinicians may compare:

Pretreatment growth velocity

with

Growth velocity during treatment

A meaningful acceleration in growth can indicate treatment response.

If expected improvement does not occur, clinicians may reassess:

• Diagnosis
• Medication dose
• Adherence
• Nutrition
• Thyroid function
• Other health conditions
• Pubertal progression
• Remaining skeletal maturity

Treatment should have measurable goals.

How Much Taller Can Growth Hormone Make a Child?

No responsible provider can promise an exact number of inches.

Response depends on numerous factors:

• Diagnosis
• Age
• Bone age
• Pubertal stage
• Baseline growth velocity
• Severity of short stature
• Genetics
• Dose
• Adherence
• Treatment duration
• Remaining growth potential

Children with confirmed growth hormone deficiency may demonstrate significant catch-up growth when appropriately treated.[1,2]

Children treated for other indications can have more variable outcomes.

Parents should be cautious of anyone guaranteeing a specific final height.

Is Growth Hormone Therapy Safe for Children?

Recombinant growth hormone has been used in pediatric medicine for decades and is generally well tolerated when appropriately prescribed and monitored.[1,2]

However, treatment is not risk-free.

Potential issues clinicians may monitor for include:

• Headaches
• Intracranial hypertension
• Slipped capital femoral epiphysis
• Changes in glucose metabolism
• Thyroid abnormalities
• Scoliosis progression during rapid growth
• Joint discomfort
• Injection-site reactions

Medical history and the underlying diagnosis should always be considered before and during treatment.

What Parents Can Do to Support Healthy Growth

Whether or not a child needs medication, healthy growth depends on several fundamentals.

Prioritize Sleep

Sleep supports normal hormone physiology and overall development.

Consistent sleep schedules are particularly important for growing children and adolescents.

Provide Adequate Nutrition

Children need sufficient:

• Calories
• Protein
• Calcium
• Vitamin D
• Zinc
• Iron
• Other essential nutrients

Poor nutrition can limit growth regardless of hormone status.

Encourage Physical Activity

Regular activity supports healthy bones, muscles, metabolism, and overall development.

Treat Underlying Health Problems

Celiac disease, thyroid dysfunction, chronic inflammation, nutritional problems, and other medical conditions can interfere with normal growth.

Treating the cause is essential.

Pediatric Growth Therapy for Families in Bakersfield and Kern County

Families seeking growth hormone therapy in Bakersfield may come from throughout Kern County.

Pediatric growth evaluations may be helpful for children and adolescents from:

• Bakersfield
• Shafter
• Wasco
• Delano
• Arvin
• Lamont
• Tehachapi
• Taft
• McFarland
• California City
• Ridgecrest
• Other Central California communities

Regardless of where the family lives, the basic questions remain the same:

Is growth abnormal?

Why is it happening?

How much growth remains?

Would treatment provide a meaningful benefit?

Pediatric Growth Evaluation for Bakersfield and Shafter Families

Families in Bakersfield, Shafter, and nearby Kern County communities may seek evaluation when a child begins falling behind in height or fails to experience the expected growth spurt.

Reviewing previous pediatric records can help determine whether the change is new or has been present for years.

A growth assessment may consider:

• Growth velocity
• Height percentile
• Family target height
• Pubertal timing
• Bone age
• IGF-1
• Other laboratory testing when indicated

Growth Hormone Evaluation for Wasco, Delano and McFarland

Families in Wasco, Delano, McFarland, and northern Kern County may have fewer options specifically focused on pediatric growth concerns.

For these families, gathering previous records before consultation can make evaluation more efficient.

Useful records may include:

• Previous heights
• Growth charts
• Bone age studies
• Laboratory results
• Previous endocrinology evaluations
• Family growth history

Portions of consultation and follow-up may sometimes be completed remotely when medically and legally appropriate.

Pediatric Growth Care for Tehachapi, Taft, Arvin and Lamont

Children from Tehachapi, Taft, Arvin, Lamont, and surrounding communities may experience the same growth concerns as families living in Bakersfield itself.

Parents should not assume that being far from a large pediatric endocrine center means they must simply wait.

A structured evaluation can begin by examining the child's available growth data and determining which additional tests are actually necessary.

Telemedicine for Bakersfield and Kern County Families

For some Central California families, travel can make specialized medical care more difficult.

Telemedicine may help with portions of pediatric growth evaluation and ongoing management when medically and legally appropriate.

A virtual consultation may allow review of:

• Growth charts
• Previous laboratory results
• Bone age reports
• Family height
• Medical history
• Pubertal development history
• Previous specialist records

Some components may still require:

• In-person evaluation
• Accurate height and weight measurements
• Physical examination
• Laboratory testing
• Bone age imaging

Telemedicine should complement appropriate medical evaluation rather than replace necessary in-person care.

What to Bring to a Pediatric Growth Evaluation

Parents can make an evaluation more useful by gathering as much longitudinal information as possible.

Consider bringing:

• Pediatric growth charts
• Height measurements from previous years
• Weight history
• Birth weight and length
• Pregnancy and delivery history
• Mother's height
• Father's height
• Family puberty history
• Previous bloodwork
• Bone age report
• Bone age images when available
• Current medications
• Previous specialist notes

Even old annual physical records can help reconstruct a child's growth pattern.

Questions to Ask Before Starting Growth Hormone

Before deciding on HGH therapy, parents should understand:

1. Why is my child growing slowly?
2. Is the growth velocity abnormal?
3. Has my child fallen across height percentiles?
4. How does current height compare with family genetics?
5. What is the bone age?
6. How much growth is likely to remain?
7. Where is my child in puberty?
8. Are the growth plates still open?
9. Is there evidence of growth hormone deficiency?
10. Is there another recognized indication for HGH?
11. What benefit can realistically be expected?
12. How will treatment response be measured?
13. How long might treatment continue?
14. What monitoring is required?
15. What are the potential risks?
16. What happens if growth does not improve?

Parents should leave the evaluation understanding not simply whether treatment is available, but why it is or is not appropriate for their child.

Should We Treat Now or Continue Monitoring?

This can be one of the hardest decisions for parents.

Not every child needs immediate treatment.

Sometimes the appropriate plan is structured observation.

Monitoring may be reasonable when:

• Growth velocity remains appropriate
• The child is following their established curve
• Family genetics explain the shorter stature
• Bone age and puberty suggest a late-blooming pattern
• There are no concerning medical findings

Further evaluation or treatment may become more important when:

• Growth velocity remains poor
• Height percentile continues declining
• Puberty is significantly delayed
• Predicted adult height is substantially below expectations
• Laboratory findings are abnormal
• A recognized growth disorder is identified

The purpose of evaluation is not to rush families into treatment.

It is to avoid missing an important growth problem while meaningful growth potential still remains.

Why Timing Matters for Bakersfield Families

Parents often hear:

“Give it another year. They may catch up.”

Sometimes that is exactly the right advice.

But repeated waiting without measuring growth velocity or understanding skeletal maturity can eventually become a problem.

Growth has a biological window.

Once skeletal maturity is reached and growth plates completely fuse, medication cannot restore lost growth time.

Earlier evaluation does not necessarily mean earlier treatment.

It means earlier information.

That information may lead to:

• Reassurance
• Nutrition changes
• Treatment of another medical condition
• Continued monitoring
• Further endocrine testing
• Growth hormone therapy when medically appropriate

Knowing which path is appropriate is the purpose of the evaluation.

The Bottom Line for Bakersfield and Kern County Parents

Families searching for growth hormone therapy for kids in Bakersfield should start by understanding their child's individual growth pattern.

Short stature can result from:

• Family genetics
• Constitutional growth delay
• Delayed puberty
• Growth hormone deficiency
• Idiopathic short stature
• Small for gestational age
• Thyroid disease
• Nutritional problems
• Gastrointestinal disorders
• Chronic illness
• Genetic conditions

A comprehensive pediatric growth evaluation can help answer:

Is my child actually growing too slowly?

Has my child fallen off their growth curve?

Is this simply a late-blooming pattern?

What does the bone age show?

How much growth is likely to remain?

Is there evidence of growth hormone deficiency?

Could HGH or another intervention be medically appropriate?

For families throughout Bakersfield, Shafter, Wasco, Delano, Tehachapi, Arvin, Lamont, Taft, McFarland, and surrounding Kern County communities, obtaining these answers early can provide a clearer path forward.

The objective is not to make every child taller.

The objective is to identify abnormal growth when it exists, understand why it is happening, and protect the child's opportunity to reach their healthy growth potential.

Schedule a Pediatric Growth Evaluation for Bakersfield-Area Families

If your child:

• Is growing more slowly than expected
• Is falling through height percentiles
• Is significantly shorter than expected based on family height
• Has delayed puberty
• Has delayed bone age
• Has low IGF-1
• Has not experienced an expected growth spurt
• Is being evaluated for possible growth hormone deficiency

a comprehensive growth evaluation can help clarify what may be affecting development.

Families searching for growth hormone therapy for kids in Bakersfield, a child height specialist in Bakersfield, pediatric growth evaluation in Kern County, or HGH treatment for children in Central California can begin by reviewing:

• Long-term growth history
• Growth velocity
• Bone age
• Pubertal development
• Laboratory findings when appropriate
• Family height
• Predicted adult height
• Remaining growth potential

Contact HGHforChildren.com to schedule a pediatric growth evaluation and learn more about your child's growth pattern, remaining height potential, and whether treatment may be medically appropriate.

Medically Reviewed By

Dr. Devin Stone, ND

Dr. Devin Stone, ND is a licensed naturopathic doctor and founder of HGHforChildren.com. His clinical focus includes pediatric growth evaluation, short stature assessment, delayed puberty, bone age analysis, growth hormone deficiency screening, IGF-1 interpretation, poor growth velocity, and individualized growth treatment planning for children and adolescents.

Through HGHforChildren.com, Dr. Stone educates families about childhood growth disorders, height prediction, growth velocity, skeletal maturity, growth hormone evaluation, and treatment options for children who may not be reaching their expected growth potential.

Medical References

1. Pediatric Endocrine Society. Growth Hormone Deficiency: A Guide for Families. Pediatric Endocrine Society/American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Endocrinology Patient Education Committee.

2. Grimberg A, DiVall SA, Polychronakos C, et al. Guidelines for Growth Hormone and Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Treatment in Children and Adolescents: Growth Hormone Deficiency, Idiopathic Short Stature, and Primary Insulin-Like Growth Factor-I Deficiency. Hormone Research in Paediatrics. 2016;86(6):361–397. doi:10.1159/000452150.

3. Barstow C, Rerucha C. Evaluation of Short and Tall Stature in Children. American Family Physician. 2015;92(1):43–50.

4. Pediatric Endocrine Society. Constitutional Growth Delay: A Guide for Families. Pediatric Endocrine Society/American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Endocrinology Patient Education Committee.