Health Science: What kind of exercise can help children grow taller?

Children and adolescents are in a critical period of bone growth, and regular exercise will help promote bone growth and height development in children and adolescents . Studies have shown that children who are quiet in life and exercise for less than half an hour on weekends have a relative risk of not reaching their expected genetic height, which is 1.9 to 3.0 times higher than children who are active and exercise for more than half an hour on weekends.

The effect of exercise on height development

Children and adolescents will have various forces acting on their bones during exercise. When the force acts vertically on the growth plate, it can significantly promote the proliferation of bone cells. Therefore, appropriate jumping and stretching exercises can exert vertical stress on the bones, promote the proliferation of bone cells, and thus facilitate the growth of bones and height.

When children and adolescents perform various forms of jumping exercises (such as sports involving single-leg hopping, double-leg hopping, front leaping and split-leg hopping), the reaction force formed by the collision with the ground will be transmitted upward. This appropriate vertical pressure and muscle activity can effectively act on the growth plate and promote the height growth of children and adolescents.

At the same time, compared to walking, running and climbing, jumping exercises can generate more external impact force, which helps to accumulate minerals in the bones, increase bone density, and make bones stronger.

When children and adolescents perform various stretching exercises (playing on the horizontal bar, swinging, sitting forward bends and bow push-ups, etc.), the bones bear the tensile force generated by muscle traction and the bending force of external forces on the bones; at the same time, the bones form a stable tension inside in the process of resisting these two forces, which stimulates bone formation. In addition, stretching exercises can develop the flexibility of children and adolescents' bodies, increase the range of motion of their limbs, and make children's movements more relaxed while benefiting bone development.

Effects of exercise on bone development

In addition to helping children grow taller, exercise also contributes to bones by promoting the growth of bone mass. In other words, exercise can make children's bones stronger.

For children and adolescents, inappropriate physical exercise can have an adverse effect on bone development , mainly manifested in premature healing of the growth plate (slow growth) and uneven growth and development of the limbs on both sides (asymmetry), while long-term lack of exercise can easily lead to problems such as premature osteoporosis. Therefore, the premise for exercise to promote children's growth must be scientific, moderate and persistent.

Misunderstanding

Children can start strength training at a young age

This is wrong. The chemical composition of children and adolescents' bones is relatively high in water and organic matter, and relatively low in inorganic salts. Therefore, children and adolescents' bones are relatively soft and plastic, and are prone to deformation after bearing weight. At the same time, children and adolescents may have insufficient muscle strength, and excessive or prolonged exercise can easily cause fractures in children. Therefore, children and adolescents should not be subjected to too much high-intensity strength training to avoid bone deformity and injury, which will affect normal growth and development.