"Fight or don't fight?"
Zhang Feng's (pseudonym) family has been entangled in a long period of entanglement. Hitting, with side effects, not hitting, will affect the child's height. It's a dilemma.
The doctor told Zhang Feng that her child was "central precocious", and she was likely to have a situation where the menarche came too early, and there was not much time for her to grow tall at that time, and she still had at most 1 to 2 centimeters of space to grow.
The doctor proposed two options for Zhang Feng: go with the flow or give a suppressive injection.
Going with the flow is to let the girl exercise more, adjust her diet, and go to bed early. Even if there is a menarche, according to the natural genetic height, the lowest girl can reach about 1 meter 55, and it is possible to grow to 1 meter 6.
The injection of sexual inhibition is to inhibit the development of children through long-term drug intervention, slow down the rapid growth of height, and inhibit the rapid maturity of bone age. To put it more bluntly, it is to let the time of menarche lag a little, and give the child a longer body time.
Behind the entanglement, there is more anxiety. This is the same problem that many parents face: height. In order to grow taller, some parents began injecting growth hormone into their children, spending hundreds of thousands of yuan a year.
Zhang Feng also finally decided to give her daughter a kind of "sexual suppression needle". In more than half a year, they have spent nearly 100,000 yuan. In addition to needles, these children go to bed early, jump rope, drink milk, and race against time. This also gives rise to concerns about high anxiety and substance abuse. Some media reported that the growth and development clinic was full, and the 13-year-old 1 meter 72 child also wanted to get a growth hormone injection.
So, mid-to-low height, can you use growth hormone to help grow taller? How to do a good job of height management? Today we will talk about this topic.
Learn to look at the height curve
The first step in height management is to learn to look at the height curve. It should be reminded that the age in height management refers to "real age", that is, the first year:
The abscissa coordinate is the age, the ordinate is the height, and according to the vertical line of the age, you can find the curve where your child is;
The above 7 curves are height curves, which are standard +3, +2, +1, 0, -1, -2, -3, of which the normal population height is between -2 and +2 curves, and the curve where 0 is the average height of the population;
Below the -2 curve is short stature, above the +2 curve is tall stature, both need to be evaluated for pathological factors;
Pictured: Height curve of a girl aged 2-18, supervised by the Capital Children's Research Institute
Pictured: Height curve of a boy aged 2-18, supervised by the Capital Children's Research Institute
Example:
Little A, an 8-year-old girl, is 125cm tall. Then, the average height of 8-year-olds is 128.5cm; -2SD is 117.9cm, and height below 117.9cm is short stature; +2SD is 139.4cm, and above 139.4cm is tall. Small A height of 125cm is within the normal range.
Learn to calculate genetic target height
Height is polygenic.
70% of a child's height depends on the parent's height. Parents are tall, children will be correspondingly taller; parents are shorter, children will be correspondingly shorter; parents are tall and short, it depends on whose genes are dominant, children may be tall, may be short, may be medium in height.
So, how to calculate the height of the child after adulthood based on the height of the parents? That is, the calculation of the height of the genetic target, the formula is as follows:
Clinically, the first formula, the CMH method, is used:
Example
The father is 173cm tall, the mother is 160cm tall, and the son's genetic target height = (173 + 160 + 13) / 2±5cm = 173±5cm, that is, the son's adult lifetime height of 168 ~ 178cm belongs to the genetic range.
The genetic target height of the daughter is = (173 + 160-13) / 2±5 cm = 160±5 cm, that is, the daughter's adult lifetime height between 155 and 165 cm belongs to the genetic range.
Learn to judge whether your child's current height is within the genetic range
Well, as can be seen from the above example, the height inherited by parents to their children is not a fixed number, but a range, generally with a range of ±5cm.
Some parents will say, "How can my daughter be shorter than me in the future?" From the above calculation formula, it can be seen that the height of the child may be higher than the parents, and may also be shorter than the parents. It's not always taller than their parents, otherwise humans are getting taller and taller, aren't they?
Again in the above example, the couple above, their son is 173±5cm in adult life, 173 is exactly on the curve of 0, that is, the average height of the crowd; the daughter is 160±5cm, and 160 is also exactly on the 0 curve, that is, the average height of the crowd.
It was found that no, the parents are the average height of the crowd, the two match, the genetic height of the daughter and son is also the average height, which is also the mystery of this formula.
So, how do you know if your child's current height is within the genetic range of the parents? Again, if the child's height happens to be between -1 and +1, that is to say, the child's height is normal if it is between these two genetic curves.
Example
For example, their daughter Xiao A, 8 years old, is 125cm tall, so the height is exactly between -1 and 0, which is in the normal genetic height range. If the daughter is below 123.1 cm (-1 SD curve), then it means that she is too short and has deviated from the genetic height range. If the daughter is above 133.9 cm (+1 SD curve), it is too high and deviates from the genetic height range.
If the child's height is within the genetic range, there is a high probability that his height is not too much of a problem and does not require much medical intervention. However, this is not absolute.
If you deviate from the range of genetic height, you need to see a doctor to evaluate
Again in the example above, if the couple's child is below the -1 SD curve or above the +1SD curve, it is advisable to see a pediatric endocrinologist to assess the height.
However, this is not to say that there is necessarily a problem if it is not genetically limited. So, how far away is the problem, or take the above as an example, if the height is lower than -1.5SD, or higher than +1.5SD, then you need to consider the possibility of pathological factors.
Of course, some parents will say that my child's genetic height is exactly -1SD±5cm, and my child's height is -2SD or below, although it may only deviate from -1SD, but because the height has reached the standard of short stature, this situation also needs intervention.
Height below -2SD, which is short stature, refers to this trend in which girls grow less than 150 cm in adulthood and boys grow less than 160 cm in adulthood. In this case, even if it is familial shortness, it is recommended to intervene through medical methods to slightly exceed the height of the genetic target given by the parents. Therefore, regardless of parental height, as long as the child is shorter than -2SD, it is recommended to see and evaluate.
Height above +2SD is tall stature. So, is the child too tall to be evaluated? If the height of the child is higher than the +1.5 SD of the parent's genetic height, such as the height inherited by the parent to the child is on the 0 curve and the child's height + 2SD curve, this situation requires a medical consultation to evaluate whether it is a pathological tall stature.
Short stature is mostly a pathological factor, and tall stature is mostly a physiological factor.
In summary, if the child's height is lower or higher than the height of the genetic target± 1.5 SD, or below the -2SD of the population height curve (short stature), or above the +2SD curve (tall stature), if you are not sure, it is recommended to consult a doctor.
Children who do suffer from short stature can be treated with growth hormone
As an expert in children's growth and development, regarding injections and growth hormones that inhibit development, Wang Chunlin, director of the Department of Pediatrics of the First Hospital of Zhejiang University, suggested that parents should be cautious - "children with central precocious puberty may need to be injected with inhibition." He stressed.
"Girls' development is generally advanced, nearly 4% of girls start breast development at the age of 7; in the past three years, affected by the epidemic, children have less exercise and good nutrition, which will indeed cause some children to develop earlier." However, it is necessary to carry out targeted treatment according to their own situation and degree, and not all children with precocious puberty need injections. Wang Chunlin said.
According to Xinhua News Agency, only a very small part of the real need for growth hormone therapy, the vast majority of children only need regular diet, exercise, sleep guidance. Children with normal growth hormone secretion cannot be injected, otherwise it will lead to problems such as endocrine system disorders.
Zhang Yining, director of the Department of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism at The First Hospital of Jilin University, believes that drugs are used to treat diseases. It's not that you feel short, and you want to grow as tall as you want, just do some growth hormone, which is ridiculous.
Lin Ming of the Department of Pediatric Endocrinology of Wuhan Union Medical College Hospital believes that short-stature children must be examined for children's bone age and growth hormone secretion level to exclude various diseases before deciding whether it is suitable for growth hormone therapy. It is true that in children with short stature, growth hormone is currently considered the most effective treatment.
In the era of pluralism, the simple pursuit of tallness does not seem to be the whole value of life, in the pursuit of aesthetics, please do not ignore health.
Eat a healthy diet and avoid obesity
If you want your child to grow tall, diet must be taken seriously.
Changgao experts especially emphasize: we must avoid giving children high oil, high salt, high sugar food, such as fried food, pickled food, too sweet, too heavy taste food and so on.
These foods are not only unhealthy, they can also lead to obesity.
Obese children are prone to grow tall.
This is the current consensus of the medical community: obesity is a major trigger for children's precocious puberty. Precocious puberty can lead to premature closure of the epiphysis, which in turn affects the child's height development.
Therefore, children should not gain weight too quickly every year and avoid premature closure of the epiphyseals.
At the same time, pay attention to your child's daily diet, try to ensure that it is light, and be sure to be nutritionally balanced, balanced, and balanced (important things to say three times).
Tip: We all know it's important to eat well and often forget to remind our children to drink water. Not drinking water, or drinking insufficient water, can easily lead to constipation, accumulation of food, and lack of appetite for eating. Therefore, parents must not only pay attention to the problem of their children's eating, but also pay attention to cultivating their children's habit of drinking water
Of course, if the child is already overweight, then it is best to lose weight by adjusting the diet structure, less sugar, less oil and less salt, eating more grains, and exercising more, rather than dieting inappropriately.
Especially adolescent children after the age of 9, they must not lose weight lightly.
Studies have shown that girls before the age of 9 and boys before the age of 10, if they are malnourished, then they are provided with adequate nutrition during puberty, and their growth rate can catch up with their peers.
However, if the nutritional intake is insufficient in adolescence, the child is likely to lead to growth arrest due to a lack of certain nutrients.
It's important to be in a good mood, otherwise it will affect your height
A couple's marriage hit a rock, and in order to divorce, they made trouble for a long time.
Their 7-year-old son, whose height has barely changed for more than a year, has been arguing with his parents.
After receiving a series of psychological counseling and targeted treatment, the little boy finally began to grow taller.
This is the medical "psychogenic short stature".
In our general concept, the child's height is mainly related to heredity and acquired nutrition, where can we think that psychological pressure will also make the child grow tall?
The fact is that many children who are divorced or have a poor family environment will grow and develop more slowly than their peers.
The principle behind this is that the child's hypothalamic pituitary system will be affected by emotions, growth hormone will be suppressed, and the child's height growth will be slowed down accordingly.
A study by the New York State Institute of Psychology found that girls who live in a state of anxiety for a long time are 5.08 centimeters shorter than emotionally stable girls, and it is more difficult to grow to more than 157 centimeters.
Professor Pan Hui, director of the Department of Endocrinology at Union Hospital, said that the study only concluded that "girls' growth is more susceptible to psychological factors", possibly because girls are more sensitive than boys in psychology and are more likely to notice external information that boys do not notice, especially changes in parents' emotions.
Therefore, parents must pay more attention to their children's emotions and avoid children being in lonely, anxious or depressed emotions for a long time.
It is very important to create a relaxed and pleasant family atmosphere.
Please indicate the source "Capital Education (ID: bjedunews)".
Some of the material in this article is synthesized from pediatrician Kong Lingkai, Qianjiang Evening News, Uncle Kai's storytelling, etc.
EDIT: A ray of sunshine
Review: Haoran Qingyin