Don’t miss two growth spurts
The growth process of height is mainly regulated and controlled by the hormones secreted by the endocrine system. From the age of 3 until the beginning of puberty, children grow 5-6 cm in height each year. Growth accelerates again after puberty due to the regulation of growth hormones and sex hormones. Growth hormone plays a dominant role in human growth, and a deficiency of growth hormone can cause short stature.
There are two growth spurts in the human body, the first in the first year of life, when the annual increase is 20-25 cm, and the second before development, when the annual increase is 8-10 cm, which is the best time for height adjustment. The length of the growth period varies from north to south, usually only 2-3 years for children in the south, shorter than children in the north. Females enter a rapid growth period starting around age 10, and growth slows down after the first menstruation at about age 12. In general, girls start to grow slowly after the first menstruation, and the slow growth period after development is 2-3 years, with a total growth of about 3-5 cm; boys start to grow slowly after the end of the growth spurt, and the slow growth period after development is 3-4 years, with a total growth of about 6-8 cm. Therefore, the key to ideal height is to reach or exceed the standard length before the slow growth period.
Growth hormone plays a dominant role in human growth, and a lack of growth hormone can cause short stature. In addition, sex hormones can trigger accelerated growth during puberty and accelerate epiphyseal maturation while promoting sexual maturation, so precocious puberty can lead to premature closure of the epiphysis, resulting in height stoppage.
When your child’s height is significantly lower than the average height of children of the same age by more than 5 cm, he or she is considered to be short. If your child’s growth rate was less than 7 cm/year in infancy and less than 4-5 cm/year in childhood, you can assume that your child has a growth retardation. In both cases, the cause needs to be found as early as possible.
What are the causes that affect growth.
There are various factors that affect growth. The basic process of growth is regulated by genetic factors, and gene expression is influenced by the internal and external environment. If the adverse factors affecting gene expression can be removed, the child can eventually obtain the desired genetic height. Many children’s height growth process is often affected by a number of adverse factors. These factors usually include: nutritional factors such as long-term picky, partial or unreasonable diet, zinc and other micronutrient deficiencies; psychosocial factors such as poor family and social factors, stressful studies, lack of sleep or late sleep. These adverse factors can lead to mental depression in children and affect the function of GH-IGF axis, which regulates growth; other factors that affect height include poor digestion and absorption, chronic infections, hypothyroidism, diabetes, etc.
Parents pay attention to the problem of premature sexual maturity of children, nowadays, children generally have the phenomenon of early sexual maturity, if boys have testicular penis enlargement and pubic hair before the age of 9, and girls have breast development and even menstruation before the age of 8, it means that children belong to precocious sexual maturity. At this time, due to the stimulation of sex hormones, although the size jumped upward, epiphysis closed early, growth stopped early, and eventually can lead to adult short stature.
Observe the growth of your child.
1. Bone age check. Bone age is the most reliable indicator of human maturity. Abnormally early or backward bone age can reflect the adverse factors affecting growth and development, and timely treatment for the cause.
2.According to the bone age, actual age and height, the final adult height can be predicted. Predicting height can avoid missing the best time for treatment, or unnecessary treatment. For children with delayed physical growth, predicting height can often eliminate concerns about their future height being too short.
3.Establish a dynamic observation file of growth and development. Combining different time periods with bone age and predicted height values, we can determine whether the development is normal and eliminate the adverse factors affecting growth that are exposed in a timely manner.
4.For different situations of height of children and adolescents, develop targeted guidance and treatment programs. For example, if the height is not ideal and the bone age is close to maturity, even if there is not much room for growth, the growth potential of the last few centimeters can still be realized through comprehensive programs and reasonable guidance such as supplemental growth factors. The younger the child is, the greater the potential and room for growth.
Can I detect early growth in my child? Is there a remedy?
Scientific testing of bone age can determine whether a child is developing early and how much room and potential there is for future growth. As long as the epiphysis is not closed, there is still room for adjustment; if the epiphysis is closed, it is too late to help the child grow.
Don’t wait.
Once the epiphysis closes, the child’s height will stop growing. The best time for a child to grow taller is just a few years. Parents should not have the mentality of “waiting”. If your child’s growth rate is less than 4-5 cm/year, you can assume that your child has a growth retardation. It is important to find a way to adjust quickly. The earlier the adjustment, the more room for growth.
The room for adjustment and the effect are much more significant before or during the pre-developmental period than after the child develops. The younger the bone age, the greater the height potential and room for adjustment. Parents should not have the mentality of “stop growing and wait”. If the child stops growing for more than three years, the epiphysis will basically close, and even if more money is spent to help the child grow, there is little point.
The following cases need to be treated.
1. the bone age is less than 2 years or more than the age.
2. those whose bone age is older than age and already slow to grow
3.The height is at the low level of children of the same age for a long time.
4. Those who are already short before development and have no obvious height increase during development.
Doctors need to deal with each child according to different situations, especially for those who mature too much is the focus of timely treatment.
Three steps to grow taller.
The first step is to scientifically test your child’s bone age: the age of the skeleton, or bone age for short. Bone age accurately reflects the height of a person at all ages from birth to full maturity. Based on the detection of bone age, it is possible to determine the child’s height growth in the next few years more accurately and, at the same time, to scientifically determine the child’s final height. Children of the same age do not necessarily have the same bone age, and their growth potential can vary greatly.
The second step is to cultivate good habits in children: research shows that the height growth of adolescents can be divided into three growth stages: pre-development, development and post-development. Children in different stages of growth, the factors affecting the growth of height and focus are different. Parents should not rely on “assumptions” or “hearsay” to guide their children, as good habits are crucial to their height and healthy growth.
The third step is to take targeted measures to solve the obstacles to children’s unsatisfactory height: there are many factors affecting children’s height, including genetics, bone age, disease, emotions, exercise, diet, nutrient absorption, sleep, development, endocrine status and so on. Each child has different obstacles to growth. Based on scientific testing, we must analyze the child’s condition, accurately determine the obstacles to the child’s unsatisfactory height, and take targeted and personalized comprehensive solutions, as well as cooperate actively with the child in order to let the child grow taller scientifically.
Why is it difficult for a 14 or 15-year-old child to grow taller?
Children’s height has always been a concern for parents. Many parents often ask about their children’s height, which is not only lower than that of children of the same age, but worse still, at the age of 14 or 15, their height has not grown anymore. What is the problem?
The main reason for children to stop growing early is that early development leads to a significant shortening of the growth time, or the bone age exceeds the age, that is, the bone age is large, resulting in early epiphyseal closure and no longer grow taller. Studies have shown that if a girl has her first menstruation at the age of 11 or 12, this means that she will slow down and stop growing early at the age of 13 or 14. If a boy develops and changes his voice at the age of 12 or 13, this will mean that he will slow down and stop growing at the age of 15 or 16. Many parents think that “I can grow up to 18 or 19 myself, and so can my child”, but the key difference is that parents and children develop at different times.