The secret of height - mastering these scientific knowledge can make your children grow taller

Author: Zhang Ying: Children's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine

Reviewer: Li Bin, Chief Physician, Children's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine

Illustration: Hao Shuping

As children grow up, more and more parents begin to pay attention to their children's height. Who doesn't want their children to be tall, handsome and graceful? And short stature can indeed cause many physical and mental problems, such as low self-esteem, timidity and retreat. Thinking more long-term, it will also affect children's further education, employment, and even marriage. Today we will talk about the secrets of height!

What factors influence height?

Adult height is the result of the interaction between heredity, birth weight, height, later nutrition, the presence of disease, and the regulation of various hormones in the body. Among them, heredity is of course relatively important, and the influence of parents on height is half and half. Although the height of parents lays a very important foundation for the height of their children, there are still many factors that affect the final height of children.

Apart from the influence of congenital factors and disease factors, acquired factors also play a vital role, including nutrition, exercise, sleep, etc. These factors are what parents can do to help their children at home. It is also a process that accumulates over time and cannot be replaced by others. As parents, they all hope to do everything they can to make their children grow as tall as possible. Therefore, parents need to pay attention to the awareness and take action as early as possible, and help their children increase their height in adulthood through scientific methods.

So, in daily life, how should we help children grow taller by improving their living habits?

First, about nutrition. Due to some historical reasons, the idea of ​​the older generation is to give birth to a "big fat boy". Because the mother eats more during pregnancy, the height and weight of such children at birth are higher than those of children of the same age. The height before the age of 3 may have a lot to do with the nutritional status, but the height growth after the age of 3 has little to do with the intake of nutrients, and sometimes there will be negative effects. Children who are overweight at birth will have a much higher probability of obesity in the future. If the child is always in a state of overnutrition, it may lead to excessive growth of bone age and obesity-related diseases. Obesity will affect the growth of height. The times are different. Most children basically have no malnutrition. In particular, the concept of the elderly needs to change. Isn't there a saying that "Moms are always afraid that you are cold, and grandmothers are always afraid that their grandchildren are hungry". In fact, as long as you have a balanced diet, don't be picky or partial, and have a balanced nutrition, stop eating when you are full, eat less snacks, don't drink beverages, drink more milk, and it is healthiest to be neither fat nor thin.

Secondly, about calcium supplementation. When it comes to growing taller, many parents also have a misunderstanding that they need to take more calcium supplements to grow taller. In fact, the two are not completely equivalent. In the process of growing taller, the growth of bones does require the participation of calcium. Under normal circumstances, if a child has a balanced diet and sufficient milk, there is generally no need to use special drugs to supplement calcium. If there is too little sun exposure in winter, vitamin D can be supplemented to promote calcium absorption. However, for children who are picky eaters and do not like to drink milk, appropriate calcium supplementation can be considered. At this time, they should go to the hospital for treatment, listen to the doctor's advice, and take reasonable drugs to supplement calcium. Of course, we still encourage children to drink a glass of milk in the morning and evening as the best way to supplement calcium.

Again, about exercise. The help of exercise for height can be said to be widely recognized. Exercise can not only stimulate the secretion of growth hormone and effectively stimulate the growth plate, but also stimulate the secretion of dopamine, reduce people's stress and keep people in a comfortable mood. Generally speaking, longitudinal exercise against gravity can more effectively stimulate the growth of epiphyseal cartilage. However, exercise is not easy to stimulate the cartilage plate too much, such as weightlifting, which can easily cause damage to the epiphyseal cartilage plate. Therefore, rope skipping, high jumping, basketball and other exercises are more conducive to height growth. Exercise should maintain a certain frequency and time, and try to ensure 15 to 30 minutes of exercise every day. Exercise is about persistence. If the amount of exercise is too little and the epiphyseal growth plate is not stimulated enough, then it will not help much for height growth.

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Finally, about sleep. Many parents don’t know that sleep hides a big secret. In terms of growth, children who know how to sleep will grow better. The secret lies in growth hormone, which is a very important hormone that regulates height growth. Both adults and children secrete it, but the effects are different. Growth hormone is secreted in small amounts during the day, with a peak at night, in a pulsed manner, and the highest secretion occurs during deep sleep. Therefore, parents must learn to let their children "sleep a sleep that helps them grow taller"!

Remember Dr. Zhang Ying's advice: do a good job of preparation before going to bed, don't drink too much water before going to bed, urinate well, try to reduce getting up at night, don't interrupt the night's sleep; the bedding or indoor environment should not be too cold or too hot, so that the child is easy to toss and turn and sleep unsteadily, affecting the child's deep sleep; don't be too excited before going to bed, otherwise it will be difficult for the child to fall asleep quickly. It is best to go to bed before 9 o'clock every night, and try to maintain more than 9 hours of adequate sleep. During the child's sleep, the surrounding environment needs to be quiet to ensure the quality of sleep. Of course, many children in the outpatient clinic reported that they couldn't sleep, which was mostly related to long-term bad sleeping habits. In addition, children in junior and senior high schools reported that they were too busy with schoolwork to go to bed early. At this time, children should try to seize the time and improve their learning efficiency. Do more homework at school, try not to go to bed later than 10 o'clock. If you really can't finish your homework, you can get up half an hour earlier to complete the remaining homework, and you can put some recitation homework in the morning. Try not to miss the peak of your own growth hormone secretion!

Finally, I would like to remind you that persistence is very important. The difference accumulated over more than ten years will still have a certain impact on the height of children. If your child has done well in the above aspects, but is still shorter than children of the same age, please see a doctor as soon as possible, at least to get a comprehensive assessment and prediction of the height. The earlier you see a doctor, the more room you will have for growth. If you see a doctor too late, the growth space will be very small or even gone, and you and your child will definitely regret it! I wish every child has an ideal height and a bright future!