The height of a child may be related to the child’s schooling, employment and family, which is the concern of every parent and the concern of our child health care doctors. A person’s growth starts from fetal development in the mother’s womb and goes through 16-18 years of growth in infancy, early childhood, preschool, and school age to reach the final height, and growth problems caused by various aspects at each stage can damage the final height and make a shorter person.
There are two peaks of human growth and development, one is infancy and the other is adolescence. Creating various favorable conditions during adolescence can undoubtedly promote growth potential. Among them, adequate nutrition, reasonable physical activity, adequate sleep and maintain a happy mood are the four elements to promote growth.
Adequate nutrition Adequate daily intake of calories and various nutrients, including protein, fat, carbohydrates, dietary fiber, vitamins, inorganic salts and water. These nutrients are found in foods such as grains, eggs, meat, dairy, vegetables and fruits. During growth spurts, calcium intake should be 1000 to 1200 mg per day. Dairy products aquatic products homemade contain more calcium and are absorbed and utilized to a better extent, making them ideal foods for calcium supplementation.
Physical activity Under the premise of ensuring adequate nutrition supply, physical activity is the most effective way to promote physical development and increase physical fitness. Physical exercise can promote the body’s metabolism, enhance appetite and promote bone growth. Adequate sleep Adequate sleep is also an important factor to promote growth, because growth hormone is mainly secreted during deep sleep at night, adolescents should ensure that they have 9-10 hours of sleep every day. Happy mood Good mood is good for the secretion of growth hormone to promote growth.
Xiao Qiang is a 17-year-old senior male student, but his height is only 138 cm. From birth to two years old, Xiao Qiang’s growth was basically normal, but after two years old, growth gradually slowed down and distanced from children of the same age, so parents took a chance, thinking that “the child may grow late”. When he started elementary school, Xiao Qiang was obviously shorter than other students.
Parents are anxious, I heard what to promote the growth of the drug, buy to the child to eat, or what booster and so on, to the child on, spent a lot of money, but not see the child grow taller. When the child entered puberty, he came to the pediatric department of the hospital and was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency after examination and medical history. He grew 13 cm in one year with growth hormone treatment. However, his hormone growth time was no longer enough, and his final height was undesirable.
Therefore, parents should pay attention to the following points in their child’s growth and development: 1. Whether the child was born normal and whether there is intrauterine growth retardation. About 85% of children with intrauterine growth retardation can catch up with the growth of normal children within 12 months. If there is any abnormality, you should seek medical attention and early treatment.
2, the child’s normal height growth is: 25 cm in the first year of life, 10-12 cm in the second year of life, and 4-7 cm per year from the third year of life to before puberty (note that the minimum annual height growth is cm) If the child’s growth rate does not reach the normal growth rate, further examination should be done as soon as possible.
3. Whether the child’s height is significantly shorter than that of children of the same age.
4. Pay attention to the appearance of the child’s secondary sexual characteristics (such as the enlargement of the girl’s breast and the appearance of pubic hair, and the enlargement of the boy’s testicles and the appearance of pubic hair, etc.) and be alert to premature sexual maturity. If the appearance of secondary sexual characteristics is earlier than 8 years old for girls and 9 years old for boys, it is abnormal and should be further examined and treated.
In conclusion, parents should pay attention to the growth and development of their children in each period, and if there is any doubt, they should be examined as early as possible to avoid lifelong regrets.