Children with short stature, precocious or early development, overweight and obesity …… are increasingly troubled by the various problems their children face during growth and development, but often struggle to know where they should go for help.
Growth is a sensitive indicator of a child’s health status, nutrition and genetic background, and deviations in height and height growth rate from the normal range may indicate some underlying congenital or acquired disease. Many parents have misconceptions in this regard, either because they are not aware of the many aspects of their child’s growth and development that need attention, or because they find out that their child is short and seek medical help in a hurry.
Thirty percent of height depends on acquired factors
Children with short stature, precocious or early development, overweight and obesity are all growth disorders. According to experts, the number of patients in the outpatient clinic for dwarfism has been doubling every year. “Most of the children who come to the clinic are short in stature, and only a very small percentage are pathologically caused by abnormal growth and development, as extreme dwarfism.” The director said that 70 percent of the size comes from genetics, and the rest depends on the acquired nutrition and environment.
There are many reasons why children don’t grow. Common causes of short stature include familial short stature, somatic developmental delay, growth hormone deficiency, congenital ovarian insufficiency, hypothyroidism, intrauterine growth retardation, and chondrodysplasia. In addition to parental genetics, the causes of children’s short height are closely related to the child’s environment and nutrition. When analyzing the external causes of children’s short height, experts believe that the main causes are over-nutrition, lack of sleep and environmental pollution. From the point of view of the short children consulted, many children are fond of foreign fast food, soda and other foods, which to a certain extent lead to early developmental period of children, especially prone to precocious sexual maturity, while prematurely promoting bone development, resulting in early closure of bones before the growth period and no longer grow. In addition, many children are under pressure from schoolwork and usually do not get enough sleep, which also has an important impact on height.
Regular monitoring is needed for school-age children
A person goes through several different age stages from birth to adulthood, and each stage has its own different growth and development characteristics. Experts point out that only with a full understanding of the normal growth and development process of children and the correct evaluation methods can we detect growth abnormalities in time and find out the shortcomings of their nutrition, environment and lifestyle and correct them; or check whether there are hidden diseases and treat them. Parents should learn to recognize problems in growth and development and help their children to receive timely, correct and reasonable guidance and treatment.
As a parent, how can you initially determine your child’s development? Usually, the average height of the parents is the adult height of the child as determined by the genetic potential, also known as the target height. The following formula can be used to calculate a child’s target height.
Height of boy = (father’s height + (mother’s height + 13))/2 ± 7.5 cm
Girls’ height = ((father’s height – 13) + mother’s height) / 2 ± 6 cm
How to get your child to the ideal height
Experts say that it is the parents’ responsibility to create a more favorable growth environment for their children by supplying enough but not too much food and balanced but not biased nutrition; allowing them to get enough exercise, get enough sleep, and keep their bodies and minds happy; and preventing and actively treating diseases. In this way, the growth potential given by congenital can be brought into full play and the ideal height of the child can be achieved.
Pay attention to nutrition and not partial diet
Some parents have a nutritional misconception that strengthening nutrition means eating more chicken, duck, fish and meat and not eating or eating less food. In fact, the energy needed by the body is mainly obtained from carbohydrates, while protein can only be fully utilized by the body under the premise of sufficient energy. Excessive protein intake, not only increases the burden on the liver and kidneys, easy to cause indigestion, constipation, but to suppress the appetite of children. Some children are over-nourished resulting in obesity, which can easily lead to precocious puberty and eventually short stature. Therefore, in order to ensure that the amount is sufficient, but also pay attention to the reasonable mix of diet and diversification, that is, coarse and fine, meat and vegetables, do not picky food, not partial food. Do not eat too much snacking and affect the intake of important nutrients.
One hour outdoors every day
Children and adolescents often engage in sports, can promote the growth of bones, so that the bones become longer and thicker, and bone density increases. Regular exercise also makes muscle fibers thicker and improves muscle strength, speed and endurance. Exercise also consumes excess fat and prevents obesity during the rapid growth period. Nowadays, children generally do not have enough outdoor activities, do not fully enjoy the sun and fresh air, and do not have enough exercise, which are not conducive to the growth of children.
Adequate sleep should be guaranteed
In the sleep state, the secretion of growth hormone is about three times higher than in the waking state, so ensuring sufficient sleep is beneficial to growth.
Actively prevent and treat diseases
Various acute and chronic diseases that cause physiological disorders can have a direct impact on the growth and development of children. Repeated respiratory infections and diarrhea can significantly hinder the growth and development of children. Chronic infections, chronic hepatitis, chronic nephritis, asthma, heart disease, anemia, etc. can affect height growth. Major diseases such as chromosomal abnormalities, endocrine disorders, bone and cartilage development disorders can make the affected children significantly lower in height than their peers, which is medically known as pathological dwarfism. Therefore, active prevention and treatment of diseases is of great importance for children in the growth period. Through early diagnosis and treatment, the growth damage caused by some diseases can be fully or partially restored.