13-year-old boy's epiphyseal line closed! This kind of tonic may "end his height" early →

Puberty is a period of rapid growth for children.

Many parents hope that through supplements

Let your child grow taller

But taking supplements at this time is tantamount to "adding fuel to the fire"

It is likely to cause

Accelerates the closure of bone growth zones (epiphysis)

The consequences of ending your height prematurely

So, parents should

How to manage your child’s height?

Let’s take a look together↓↓↓

The bone age of junior high school boys is close to closure

Parents often ask whether adolescent children can take tonics such as seahorse soup, sea cucumber soup, and chicken stewed with Panax notoginseng. These tonics can indeed promote bone growth, accelerate growth and development, and enhance immunity in a short period of time, but they also have the risk of accelerating sexual development and stimulating premature closure of the epiphyseal line. At the same time, adolescent children have strong yang energy, and the use of such drugs will aggravate internal heat, resulting in dry mouth, mouth sores, acne, constipation, irritability and other "heat" symptoms.

In addition, blindly supplementing growth hormone or using growth-promoting drugs and health products may also accelerate the premature closure of the epiphysis.

Xiaogang (pseudonym), 13 years and 9 months old, has not grown in the past six months, and has gained nearly 20 kilograms in weight, with a bone age close to 17 years old, after more than a year of voice change and a year of growth spurt. His genetic height was predicted to be 180cm, but when he went to the hospital for treatment, he was only 165cm tall, and there was only 1-2cm of room for growth in the later period. After asking the reason, it was found that since the child's voice changed, the family had been chasing him to give him tonic food every day, such as sea cucumber, chicken stewed with Panax notoginseng, pigeons, and geese, which resulted in a surge in weight and early closure of the epiphysis, which was really a pity...

Parents need to pay attention to their children's initial developmental signs

Doctors say that if a child grows too fast and too early, it may disrupt the normal growth cycle and make the child's final height lower than expected. In fact, parents should pay attention to the initial developmental signs of their children , such as breast development and breast lumps and tenderness in girls aged 8-9, and testicular development and testicular enlargement in boys aged 11-13.

However, in reality, girls' breast development and other problems are easily noticed earlier, but boys' related problems are often not taken seriously. By the time obvious symptoms such as a deepening voice, prominent Adam's apple, and acne appear, they have already entered the middle of puberty, and the bone age of some children has been significantly advanced. Therefore, Chinese medicine conditioning must "pick" the right time.

Is “Growth Soup” Reliable?

Some social networks and e-commerce platforms promote folk remedies and tonics that contain Chinese herbal ingredients, claiming to help children grow taller. Are they reliable? For example, a soup that is said to be "cooked by all mothers on the Internet" and can help children grow taller mainly contains Chinese herbal medicines such as astragalus, ophiopogon japonicus, and Pseudostellaria heterophylla.
Doctors say that many children nowadays have developmental problems due to an unreasonable diet (liking meat and sweets) and lack of exercise, which are mostly caused by internal dampness and heat. In this case, it is necessary to clear away heat and dampness and regulate the spleen and stomach. This soup is a tonic that nourishes the deficiency of qi and yin. If it is not used properly, it will aggravate the dampness and heat in the body, which may cause children to feel weak, tired, and have no appetite, which will delay their growth.

The application of traditional Chinese medicine is not "one prescription for thousands of people", but should be based on syndrome differentiation and treatment, "one prescription for each person" and the dosage should be adjusted according to the symptoms. Improper use of the medicine will not only fail to achieve the desired effect, but may also be counterproductive!

How to manage your child's height in daily life

According to Guangzhou Daily, the difference between the minimum and maximum values ​​of normal height for children is more than 20 centimeters. How can children reach the upper limit of genetic height or the expected adult height? Experts say that healthy growth and development of children can help them achieve their ideal adult height by scientifically managing their height in all aspects of daily life, including diet, sleep, exercise, and emotions.

Diet and nutrition: Overnutrition or malnutrition is not conducive to height growth. Balanced nutrition is the key. Protein, calcium and vitamins are important nutrients that promote height growth.

One egg, 500 ml of milk and 1 tael of meat every day can ensure sufficient protein intake; to ensure adequate calcium intake, calcium supplements can be appropriately taken according to diet and bone density; ensure adequate vitamins A and D.

Sleep: Try to fall asleep before 10 p.m. and avoid getting up at night. The peak period of growth hormone secretion is from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Preschool children should get 10 hours of sleep a day. Parents should help their children arrange their time reasonably and avoid excessive play or study that affects normal and adequate sleep.

Exercise: Endurance exercise, vertical exercise, and exercise that properly stimulates the knee joints, ankle joints, and spine are more conducive to children's growth, such as shuttlecock kicking, rope skipping, running, ball games, high jump, etc. Regular exercise, 20 to 40 minutes each time is appropriate; excessive fatigue will also hinder growth.

Specific to age groups:

Children aged 0-1 should do more prone movements.

Children aged 2-3 years old should be guaranteed 2-3 hours of outdoor activity time every day. When outdoors, avoid leaving the child in the stroller all the time and encourage them to run around more.

Children aged 3-6 can do more aerobics, ensure a certain intensity of exercise, pay attention to regular testing, and pay attention to making growth curves.

For children over 6 years old, they can do more jumping exercises such as skipping rope and basketball, but they must ensure a certain intensity.

Experts remind: It is not recommended for children to play on trampolines frequently. This popular amusement facility is actually not friendly to children's joints. Not only are they prone to acute injuries, but the rebound force after falling is not conducive to the joints' active buffering, which can easily lead to synovitis.

Mood: A happy mood is conducive to the secretion of growth hormone, nutrient absorption and improving sleep quality.

We should often encourage and praise children, create a relaxed family environment, respect different eating habits and food preferences, and let children maintain a good mood and emotions.

Regular child care: Experts suggest that parents should measure their children's height and weight regularly, record their growth curve, compare it with the standard, and evaluate their children's current level of development. Not only should they compare it with the average data of children of the same age and gender, but they should also pay attention to whether their own growth and development curve deviates from the normal trajectory.

Parents who have the conditions should take their children for child health care regularly to detect problems in time. Pediatric doctors will assess the child's development based on the child's height (length), weight, exercise, etc.

The recommended frequency of child care for children of different ages is:

0-1 years old: once every 3 months; 1-3 years old: once every six months; 3 years old to puberty: once a year; from puberty to adulthood: once every six months.