In the blink of an eye, spring has arrived.
At the same time that everything is recovering, the children are also growing crazy.
According to WHO research, children grow and develop the fastest in the spring, almost 2.5 times the growth rate in the fall.
Therefore, spring is also a veritable "golden season for children to grow tall".
In order to make the child grow taller, parents are also broken heart, for example, a mother asked me, saying that her son is the shortest in the class in kindergarten, girlfriend let her take the child to measure the bone age, she also saw a lot of children on the Internet to measure the bone age, tangled whether to go.
This has been a hot topic in the past two years, and it is said that it can predict the height of children in the future
Their developmental abnormalities can be detected in advance
It can be found whether the child is precocious
……
Of course, there are also some views that taking children to measure bone age is an IQ tax, and there is radiation in X-rays, which will affect children's development.
So, what exactly is bone age measurement? Is there a need for testing? Can you predict your child's height?
What is bone age?
In general, human growth and development have two kinds of age manifestations:
One is the physiological age, that is, the age calculated from our birth, how many years old, everyone's speed is the same.
The second is bone age, referred to as bone age, which is roughly the same as the physiological age. However, due to the influence of the usual diet and exercise, there will be some deviations in the growth rate of bone age and age.
For example, some children are 12 years old, and the bone age is still stuck at 10 years old, indicating that his physical development rate is slower, only developing to the level of 10 years old for normal children; there are also 10-year-old children, whose bone age is already 12 years old, which indicates that his development rate is faster, and his body has reached the level of 12-year-old children.
How to measure bone age
The process of measuring bone age is actually very simple, that is, to take an X-ray of the child's left hand.
(Image from the Internet)
Because it is a hand, far from the child's body, the radiation to the child is also very small, and the child is more cooperative.
Then the doctor will interpret the bone state and growth level shown on the X-ray, and at the same time, the child's X-ray will be compared with the standard map, close to which, that is, how old.
Therefore, the accuracy and professionalism of the doctor's judgment have a great impact on the child, and it is best to find an experienced doctor to distinguish.
The age of the bones calculated in this way is compared with the real age:
When the bone age and age difference are within ± 1 year old, the child is developing normally.
When the bone age > age is 1 year old, not more than 2 years old, indicating early development (bone age advance);
Bone
These two kinds of abnormal delayed or advanced bone age need to be paid attention to, communicate with the doctor in time about the child's situation, see what causes it, and whether the follow-up needs to regularly monitor the child's "height" and "bone age" growth rate.
In general, the delay in bone age may be growth hormone deficiency, hypothyroidism, malnutrition, congenital heart disease, chronic kidney disease or severe asthma.
At this time, the child may also have a delay in puberty, becoming what we often call "growing late", which must be checked out.
Of course, some children are hereditary, for example, the height of the parents is not high, the child's bone age may be normal, but the final height will not be very high.
The occurrence of bone age advance, in addition to the well-known "obesity, precocious puberty" related, hyperthyroidism, adrenal function early, etc. may also cause bone age advance, if the child has bone age advanced, but also accompanied by short stature and obesity, the child's potential to grow tall may also be affected.
Here I have to mention that do not want to supplement growth hormone as soon as you feel that your child is not tall enough.
For children who are not deficient in growth hormone, the long-term risk of treatment is far more than the child's physical ability to bear, because the current research on growth hormone is mainly based on children with short stature or disease states, and lacks data on the safety of use in children with normal shortness or normal height.
It is equivalent to spending a lot of money in exchange for a series of unknown health risks and potential diseases such as tumors and diabetes that the child may suffer from. There's really no need to take risks.
The reason why bone age detection can appear is because the changes in human bone development are basically similar, and the bones at different stages have different morphological characteristics, so we use it to assess the growth and development level of children. Through the assessment of bone age, you can intervene in the child's unhealthy situation in advance and help the child recover health faster.
But at the same time, we also need to know,
Bone age tests are not available for all children
If the child is very small, such as one year old or two years old, there is still a lot of space and instability in bone development, and it is useless to check it, and under normal circumstances, the doctor will not recommend that the child measure the bone age, because the test results at this time have no reference to the height of the child.
For children with normal height and weight, normal growth can be done, and there is no need to measure bone age.
Whether or not to have a bone age test is up to the doctor, and in general, bone age measurement is not recommended for children under 6 years of age. In the case of abnormal growth and development, a specialist evaluates and decides whether to have a bone age test
Adult height predicted at bone age testing
Not necessarily accurate
It can only be said that bone age has a certain value in predicting adult height.
But height is actually affected by many aspects, such as geography, nutrition, disease, etc.
Therefore, any prediction cannot be 100% accurate, and can only be used as a reference.
At the same time, the development of human bone age is not uniform and stable, it may also be faster than a certain stage at a certain stage, just like in adolescence, the child's height grows quickly, and other times are slower.
So if you really want to predict height by bone age, you also need dynamic monitoring, rather than looking at a single point in time.
But these kinds of children,
Early detection of bone age is recommended
dysplasia
The child is short in stature and significantly lower in height than his peers, or the child is significantly higher than that of his peers.
There are children who have not grown taller or changed very slowly for a long time.
Children with suspected precocious puberty
Boys develop secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 9, the penis and testicles are enlarged, followed by voice changes, protruding laryngeal knots, long beards, pubic hair, armpit hair, etc.
Before the age of 8, girls develop breasts and subsequently grow pubic hair and armpit hairs.
Precocious puberty will lead to earlier bone development and a much shorter growth cycle.
Excessively obese children
Fat children may be taller than children of the same age in the short term, but the initial production of more estrogen in the body may accelerate the rapid closure of the epiphyseal.
Therefore, if the child does not have these conditions, there is no need to measure bone age.
However, if you want to monitor your child's development, you can measure your child's height once a month, record the measured value, and after several consecutive measurements, connect these points to get the child's growth curve.
The growth curve allows you to dynamically and vertically observe your child's growth rate to see how their height has grown recently.
In addition, a balanced diet, regular exercise, and adequate sleep are equally important for children's height development.
No food can grow taller when eaten, and children need a balanced and comprehensive diet.
Mothers can mix different foods for their children to eat, often changing types. For example, fried and sweets are given to children to eat a little less, and there is no benefit in eating.
Taking children to outdoor sports can promote the growth of children's bones and improve bone quality.
Generally speaking, running and jumping projects are more conducive to children growing taller, and spring is also very suitable for outdoor sports.
But don't exercise until your child is exhausted, what they need is not an overly long period of exercise, but regular, restrained exercise.
Adequate sleep is an important factor in helping children grow taller, and most growth hormone is secreted at night.
The document issued by the Ministry of Education also clearly stipulates that primary school students need to sleep 10 hours a day, junior high school students 9 hours, and high school students 8 hours a day.
So try not to let the child stay up late, because going to bed early can ensure their sleep time and sleep quality, in order to ensure the normal secretion of growth hormone.
Parents hurry up and seize the long and high period of their children's spring, and hurry up!