Skopje, 20 September 2025 (MIA) - Under the motto “Speak Out Loud,” the Parents’ Association of Children with Endocrinological Disorders “Growth” joins on Saturday the global initiative marking International Children’s Growth Awareness Day for the twelfth time, in front of Porta Macedonia.

“At present, some 160 children with growth disorders in North Macedonia are being treated with growth hormone. This International Children’s Growth Awareness Day is dedicated to those children who, due to late diagnosis, have not started treatment and reach an age where it is too late, as growth has finished,” “Growth” association said.

According to the association, the difficulty is that children are often referred too late to a specialist pediatric endocrinologist for proper analysis and correct diagnosis, while concerns about height usually arise when children are already in the higher levels of primary education.

“At this age, children pay great attention to their appearance and accordingly ask questions of their parents and caregivers. By the time a child reaches a pediatric or adult endocrinologist, the diagnosis can be made without difficulty, but it is already too late. For most growth disorders, it is already too late for treatment, because the child is near the end of growth or has already completed it,” the association said.

Photo: MIA archive