Usually listen to the old generation of people say the most short children is that children grow late, after a few years it will be good, boys 20 years old can still scamper three scamper, is this really the case? Zhang Ming, a 16-year-old boy, weighs 90KG and is 157CM tall. From the perspective of nutrition, the child has reached the standard of obesity, but from the height assessment, the child is short. The child’s mother didn’t want to believe it, “I thought boys could grow to at least 20 years old?” The child’s mother just didn’t want to believe it. The cruel reality is that we can still say that children who are short are late growers?
In the end, which children grow early and which children grow late, the bone age can truly reflect the actual state of children’s growth. If a 7-year-old boy with a height of 124 cm and a skeletal age of 7 years also belongs to the 50th percentile, his adult height at the age of 18 may be 172 cm if he has a good growth environment in his future life. If the 7-year-old boy’s skeletal age is 8 years old, the child’s height should be measured using the growth standards of an 8-year-old child. 124 cm is in the 10th percentile, and without future intervention, the child’s height at age 18 could be 165 cm. If a child’s bone age is greater than the actual age and there is excess nutrition, it is likely to contribute to a more advanced bone age, shortening the height growth period and leading to a less than ideal adult height in the future. It is best to measure the bone age every 1-2 years after the age of 3 in order to understand the real growth of the child. Parents can have a good idea of their child’s true growth level, and doctors can provide targeted guidance to children based on their bone age growth rate and height growth rate. So in the process of growth, to get the ideal height for your child, you can’t just wait blindly, especially in children who develop precocious puberty which is more likely to end the growth period early and affect the final height of the adult.
Therefore, in the process of raising a child, you should regularly give your child a physical growth evaluation in order to understand the child’s growth level and adjust interventions in time to create the best parenting environment for your child to grow to full height. Specific practices are as follows.
1.Measurement
Measure your child’s weight once a month; within 12 months, measure your child’s length once a month; from 13-24 months, measure your child’s length every 2 months; after 25 months, measure your child’s height once every 3 months. It is more accurate to measure each time in the morning or at a regular time of the day. Measure weight with a single garment and remove shoes and hats to measure length or height. Use a fixed measuring device for measurement, and it is better if a person takes the measurement.
2.Height evaluation
According to the criteria for boys and girls in the above table, evaluate the percentile level of the child’s length or height at the current age. The percentile refers to the distribution of the population, the 50th percentile means that 50% of the population belongs to this level; the 10th percentile means that 10% of the population is below this level; the 70% percentile means that 30% of the population is above this level. If the height is below the 3rd percentile of the same age and gender, it is a disease state, not a simple late growth, so please seek medical attention promptly.
3.Future height prediction
According to the height level of the child’s current age, the height level of the child at the age of 18 years old at the same percentile level is the future adult height level that the child is likely to reach in the future. For example, a 5-year-old girl with a height of 111 cm is in the 50th percentile. If she grows up well in the future, her future adult height may be 161 cm.
4.Target height evaluation
The genetic target height is calculated as follows: boy = [(sum of parents’ height + 12)/2]; girl = [(sum of parents’ height – 12)/2]. After calculating the target height, see at which percentile level the target height is at the age of 18, and then check against it to see at which percentile level the child’s current height is. If the child’s current height level is lower than the target height level, it means that the environmental factors are unfavorable; if the child’s current height level is equal to the target height level, it means that the environmental factors do not play any role; if the child’s current height level is higher than the target height level, it means that the environmental factors are favorable, but the possibility of early bone age development, that is, the possibility of early height growth, should be excluded.
5.Growth rate evaluation
The reference range of normal growth rate for children is: ≥ 23 cm in infancy, ≥ 8 cm in the second year of life, ≥ 7 cm in the third year of life, and ≥ 5 cm/year from age 3 to prepubertal. If the growth rate is below the following levels, << span="">23 cm in infancy, << span="">8 cm in the second year after birth, << span="">7 cm in the third year after birth, and << span="">5 cm/year from age 3 to prepubertal, be alert to the possible risk of height growth retardation and seek prompt medical attention.
6. Proportionality evaluation
Weight and height at the same percentile level indicate a well-proportioned physique. If the weight level is higher than the height level, it is a slightly fat body; if the weight level is lower than the height level, it is a slim body. For example, a 5-year-old boy with a height of 111 cm weighs 19 kg and is proportionate; if he weighs 17 kg, he is slim; if he weighs 21 kg, he is slightly fat. In general, if the level of weight is significantly higher than the level of height, that is, the state of overweight and obesity, there is a possibility of early development of bone age.
Height standard table for male and female children and adolescents in each age group
Children’s scientific height increase needs to start from four aspects: reasonable nutrition, appropriate amount of exercise, adequate sleep, happy mood.
1, reasonable nutrition: balanced nutrition, a reasonable mix of various nutrients, protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins and trace elements in a reasonable proportion, meat and vegetables, the proportion of excessive consumption of high-calorie, high-fat, high nutrition food or health products.
2, moderate exercise: simply put, can promote appetite, promote sleep, give a certain degree of vertical pressure on the bones of the exercise are beneficial to growth. Specifically, there are jogging, rope skipping, dancing, playing basketball and volleyball. Since emotional stability is also important for growth, let your child choose the sports he or she likes. Too much pressure (such as lifting weights) makes it difficult for bones to grow in the vertical direction.
3, adequate sleep: let your child sleep well, age less than 7 years old, 12 hours; more than 7 years old, 11-12 hours, because the secretion of growth hormone to promote growth is at its peak from 11:00 pm to 1:00 am, it is best for children to be in deep sleep during this peak secretion period, which is beneficial to the normal secretion of growth hormone.
4, happy mood: If the child is in a long-term depression, depression, fear and other bad psychological state, it is not conducive to the secretion of growth hormone, which affects the growth of height, so in order to allow the child to grow fully, we should encourage the child to be in a happy mood every day.
The growth period of a child is only a period of time, maybe 20 years, but it may be only 18 years or even only 15 years. Parents should not miss the time of their children’s growth, and wish every child can get full growth under the correct guidance of pediatricians, the supervision and cooperation of parents, and the efforts of children themselves.