A PHYSICIAN is faced with a particularly troublesome problem when a child who is believed to be too short for his age is brought before him for treatment and an underlying disease is not to be found. So urgent may be the concern of the parents that some sort of hormone treatment may seem imperative to allay the anxiety. The temptation will be great "to do something" to promote growth and force the child into a "normal" size for his age. A quick concrete attack seems so much easier than prolonged discussions of the benign nature of the physical problem and the attendant psychologic consequences.