Recently a type of growth failure (Hyperphagic Short Stature) has been described, in which
there is potentially reversible severe impairment of growth hormone secretion, in association
with excessively high levels of psychosocial stress. This condition is a variant of the disorder
formerly known as Psychosocial Dwarfism. In the present study we compared children with
Hyperphagic Short Stature (N=25, aged 9.04 years±3.78, 72% male) and a closely
matched sample with normal height, drawn from comparably stressful family circumstances
(N=25, aged 10.61±3.04, 60% male). Measures of the psychosocial environment,
anthropometry, and developmental history from infancy were obtained. Many symptoms
thought previously to be characteristics of psychosocial dwarfism were found to be
nonspecific stress responses. Hypotonia (p<.05), enuresis/encopresis (p<.01), and sleep
cycle disruption (p<.05) did differentiate the groups. Growth, appetite, and sleep are all
influenced by hypothalamic nuclei, suggesting hypothalamic pathology could account for
most of the clinical features of Hyperphagic Short Stature.