Gender bias, poor growth, and hypothesis testing:

Grimberg et al., (2005) wondered whether gender biases were evident in referrals of children for poor growth. They believed that boys were more likely to be referred even when there was no problem—which is bad for boys because families of short boys might falsely view their height as a medical problem. They also believed that girls were less likely to be referred even when there was a problem—which is bad for girls because real problems might not be diagnosed and treated. They studied all new patients at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Diagnostic and Research Growth Center who were referred for potential problems related to short stature. Of the 182 boys who were referred, 27 had an underlying medical problem, 86 did not but were below norms for their age, and 69 were of normal height according to growth charts. Of the 96 girls who were referred, 39 had an underlying medical problem, 38 did not but were below norms for their age, and 19 were of normal height according to growth charts.