How should we investigate children with growth failure?

The early diagnosis of short stature is essential for effective management and treatment. Investigations for children with growth failure are required to distinguish between idiopathic short stature due to physiological variants (familial short stature, and constitutional delays of growth and puberty, or both), primary causes of short stature, such as syndromic and/or genetic defects and skeletal dysplasia, and secondary growth deficits due to endocrine or other chronic disorders such as celiac disease, Crohn's disease, malnutrition, renal, anorexia nervosa or other chronic diseases.