Growth hormone deficiency can begin in children at birth or anytime until the teenage years. Signs of growth hormone deficiency in newborn babies are apnea, pallor, jitterness, cyanosis, lethargy, and seizure. Height differences between normal children and children with GH (growth hormone) deficiencies can range from about 7 cm before the age of 3, 4.5 to 5 cm from the age of 3 till puberty, and about 5.5 to 6.0 cm during the pubertal year. Also, developmental defects have been observed in children with GH deficiency. For an example, children with GH deficiency have been observed to have larger heads and smaller bodies than normal children because of the lower level of GH in their bodies.

However, based on the idea of treating shorter children due to GH deficiencies, there is also the question of treating children of short stature that do not have low levels of GH. This has become a controversial issue that concerns several factors. Many parents (in the US) want their children to be taller. The American society has been noticed to prefer taller people in general. For an example, it has been found that the taller college graduates make more money compared to the shorter college graduates. Also, 80% of the presidents have been taller than his competitors. Shorter children are often thought of to be younger than they actually are. There are also cases where shorter children have been bullied and teased because of height. From these statistics, it is obvious why parents would like to be able to get GH treatment to make their children taller. However, since short statured children are not necessarily GH deficient, it is not moral to treat them because it would be like giving professional athletes steriods to allow them to have improved performance.

GH treatment has been found to be exceptionally helpful in treating children with GH deficiency. The GH treatments have been able to provide a more normal rate of growing and even correct some developmental defects over time (such as body proportions).