Books of Note: Normal at Any Cost
Tall Girls, Short Boys, and the Medical Industry’s Quest to Manipulate Height
by Susan Cohen and Christine Cosgrove
In full disclosure, I have not yet read this book entirely. I have found it relevant, readable, and interesting enough so far, though, to mention it here.
The book, according to the author’s website, “is the first detailed account of the way in which tall girls and short kids have been experimented on for decades.”
The authors provide anecdotes, research findings, and a chronology of medical and pharmaceutical interventions beginning in the 1950′s which were intended to stunt or encourage growth in apparently normal, healthy children. The problem they were trying to cure in these kids: being taller or shorter than social convention dictated for a child’s gender.
From parental hopes to drug company marketing techniques, medical ethics to child self-esteem, this book covers the gamut of issues and emotions surrounding height control. It’s a very interesting read.
Here are some resources about the book and a related article that you might also find helpful:
- Normal at Any Cost, on Amazon
- Susan Cohen, co-Author’s website
- New York Time Book Review
- Article Abstract: Venn A, Bruinsma F, Werther G, et al. Oestrogen treatment to reduce the adult height of tall girls: long-term effects on fertility. Lancet 2004;364:1513-8.
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