Children with idiopathic short stature are poor eaters and have decreased body mass index.

Objective: In children with idiopathic short stature (ISS), studies investigating body mass index (BMI) or parameters of satiety regulation are scarce, and studies analyzing eating behavior are lacking.

Methods: We recruited 214 children (123 index cases and 91 siblings) with ISS from 123 families. Affected children had to have a body height <5th percentile, or, in the case of siblings, the body height of 1 child had to be <5th percentile and the other <15th percentile.