During normal human growth, there are two periods of rapid height growth – the so-called growth spurt: infancy and puberty, when a child can increase 25 cm in height in the first year of life, 12 cm in the second year, and 7-10 cm per year on average during puberty, which lasts for about three years, for a total increase of 25-28 cm. These two periods are critical in determining the height of children in adulthood, but the growth of children during this period is influenced by various environmental conditions, which ultimately affects the child’s genetically determined growth potential.
In comparison, the adolescent development period is more important, because when the infant growth is affected, as long as the timely correction of various factors affecting height growth, the child eventually has sufficient time to catch up with growth, and eventually may catch up with their peers, while the adolescent development period, the child’s bones are gradually approaching maturity, the ability of adolescents to catch up with growth at this time is limited, once you miss this golden period of height growth If you miss this golden period of growth, it is too late to regret.
So how can you maximize your growth potential during the rapid growth of adolescence, and eventually reach the ideal height?
1, adequate and balanced nutrition When a child is partial to food, refuse to eat, do not necessarily force it to eat. Parents must be based on the characteristics of the child’s growth and development, combined with the specific circumstances, scientific formulation of recipes and reasonable meal arrangements, to establish a rule of hunger and satiety for the child, in order to make the child have a sense of hunger, should do three meals a day at regular intervals, do not give snacks to fill the stomach for fear of hunger because a meal is not full. Get enough sleep, live a regular life, go outdoors more often, such as playing games, walking, swimming, etc. will increase the child’s hunger. And to create a good appetite for children to stimulate the child’s dining environment, so that children in a happy mood, eat with relish. Do not use language such as “do not eat food to get sick and injections” to scare children, so that children have a fear of eating food and boredom. The children who fiddle with food and do not eat, do not severely reprimand, but should be more patient help, so that the child to build the confidence of conscious eating.
The basic principle to ensure children’s growth and development during the adolescent period is a balanced diet, in addition to ensuring adequate amounts of various nutrients, pay attention to a reasonable mix of diet and diversification, in the dietary structure, there should be sweet and salty, meat and vegetables, coarse and fine. Eat milk, fish, eggs, nutrition, although good, but easy to constipation; eat vegetables and fruits alone, not only easy to hunger can also lead to malnutrition. All day milk sugar, chocolate, fruits and melons, will disrupt the rule of hunger, affect the digestive function, reduce appetite. Therefore, the diet must be balanced and not lose sight of the other. In children’s diet, protein should not be less than 20% of the total daily calorie intake, animal protein accounts for 1/3-1/2 of the protein intake, eat more soy products, 13-18 years old, daily protein intake needs to be more than 80 grams. Daily staple food intake during puberty development is not less than 500 grams/day. Daily calcium intake is about 1000-1200 mg. Dairy products, fish, and soy products are ideal foods to supplement calcium. Eat more vegetables and fruits as appropriate. Another thing to note is not to use adult standards of color and flavor to measure and evaluate the child’s diet good or bad.
2, reasonable exercise exercise in the premise of ensuring adequate nutrition supply, exercise is the most effective way to promote physical development and enhance physical fitness. Exercise has a positive effect on all systems of the body, through exercise can eliminate fatigue, make the mind awake, quick thinking. Exercise can enhance the function of the heart and lungs. Adequate supply of oxygen and a strong heart are the important foundation of a healthy body for adolescents. The growth of long bones determines the height of adolescents. Exercise can significantly stimulate the pituitary gland to secrete growth hormone, thus promoting the growth of bones, exercise itself does not increase the genetically predetermined height, but exercise can promote the genetic potential to the maximum. In addition, exercise can also enhance the body’s immune function, improve the resistance to foreign germs, exercise while also sunbathing and air bathing, to enhance the body’s ability to adapt to the surrounding environment.
Studies have reported that children who exercise are at least 2-3 cm taller than those who do not, and sports that are believed to help with height growth include bouncing exercises such as jumping rope and running, which help with limb movement, stretching exercises such as bar, sit-ups and gymnastics, which help with bone stretching, and whole-body sports such as basketball and volleyball, badminton and swimming, which help with bone stretching and lengthening. Adolescents are at the critical period of learning knowledge and entrance exams, many children and parents often complain that there is no time to exercise, but as the old saying goes, sharpening the knife is not enough, most children and parents still do not know enough about the importance of sports and exercise. In addition adolescents should choose sports according to their age, interests, etc., and physical exercise in the context of safety.
3, adequate sleep According to in vivo research found that the hormone growth hormone to promote human body growth in the sleep state is about three times the amount of secretion in the waking state. In clinical practice, it is often found that children who do not sleep deeply, are easily awakened or often dream, and have poor sleep quality tend to have slower growth rates. Sleep disturbances are often associated with physical discomfort or certain diseases, such as respiratory or gastrointestinal inflammation or parasitic diseases, and also with the fact that children’s brains are not yet fully developed and have not yet developed a regular routine as well as with their poor sleep habits. Currently, clinicians generally believe that quality sleep can make the body and brain get sufficient rest, ensure sufficient physical strength, good mental state and appetite, plus the muscle relaxation during sleep, which is conducive to joint and bone stretching, all of which are conducive to children’s height increase. Therefore, some researchers believe that getting enough sleep is good for growth.
The amount of sleep each person needs can vary by age, with newborns needing 14-20 hours of sleep, children ages 1-6 needing 11-14 hours, ages 7-10 needing 10 hours, and the rapid growth period of adolescence requiring 9-10 hours of sleep. In order to ensure that children get enough and good quality sleep, parents need to pay attention to ensure that the sleep environment is quiet and dark, and that the room temperature is not too high; to develop a strict and fixed rest time, which is conducive to the development of children’s physiological sleep cycle; parents should take the lead and avoid staying up late; do not eat too much before going to bed, and avoid drinking too much water, especially sweet drinks; do not engage in vigorous exercise before going to sleep; during During holidays, it is especially important not to spend too much time watching TV or playing games, and not to sleep too long during the day.