Recently, the topic of "15-year-old boy finally 1.53 meters tall" has attracted people's attention. The topic of height has always been the focus of attention for adolescent children and parents.
Source: Weibo screenshot
Now the average height of Chinese is also increasing year by year, which means that the nutritional level of the people has improved, the quality of life has improved, and our country has become more and more perfect in all aspects such as medical and health care. But we also occasionally see children in adolescence stop growing in height.
Why did this happen, and how could it be avoided?
01
The epiphyseal line is closed
Does that mean the human body will no longer grow?
During the development of human bones, the ossification points that appear in the cartilage at both ends of the bone are called epiphysis. When human bones are not yet mature, some bones are still in a cartilage state. When the body is developed, this part of the cartilage will be completely ossified and become a tight slit.
Generally, between the ages of 16~20, the human body will fully grow, the epiphyseal line is closed, and the height is fixed, of course, it will be different due to individual differences.
Schematic diagram of the epiphyseal line closure process Source: Network
The development of the human body can be seen from the development of bones, which is closely related to the shape of the epiphysis.
The epiphysis has four growth stages: germination, proliferation, sculpting, and closure. The development of the epiphysis is affected by many factors, but the growth stage is not advanced due to the development of the bone. Therefore, you can judge whether the bone is still growing from the growth period of the epiphysis.
Epiphyseal appearance and closure trend table in men and women aged 3~18.99 Source: "X-ray exploration of calcaneal epiphyseal development"
The figure above shows a table of trends in epiphyseal line appearance and closure as boys and girls grow in height. It can be seen that 3~11 years old is the period of epiphyseal line appearance of boys and girls, which is also a critical period for children's physical growth. Girls gradually close the epiphyseal line at the age of 11~16, while boys gradually begin to close the epiphyseal line at the age of 12~18.
How to judge whether the child's body can still grow taller?
At present, a more scientific method is to examine the hand X-ray to observe whether the epiphyseal line is closed. If a child develops epiphyseal line closure, or bone closure, during growth and development, the height will stop growing. If a tendency to close the epiphyseal line prematurely is detected, intervention can be carried out in time.
02
What are the factors that affect human height?
There are many factors that affect the height of children, from a biological point of view, there are two main categories of reasons, one is genetic factors, that is, the genetic inheritance of parents, which is the main factor that determines a person's final height. The other is environmental factors, that is, the acquired growth environment, which is a secondary factor that determines the height of a child.
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At present, we cannot change genes in objective life, but the influencing factors in the acquired growth environment are that we can prevent and carry out artificial intervention in advance, so what are the influencing factors of the acquired nature?
The amount of calcium and phosphorus in the body affects a person's height development. Under normal circumstances, bones are constantly metabolizing, including calcium and phosphorus metabolism. The content of calcium and phosphorus in human blood and body fluids is very small, mainly found in bones, which has important physiological functions.
This is followed by the effect of vitamin levels within the receptor. It is well known that vitamins, although less abundant in the body, play a vital role. In vitamin A deficiency, the rate of deformation of chondrocytes in the epiphyseal plate slows, affecting growth. When vitamin C is deficient, it affects the normal development of the intercellular stroma of bone and other connective tissues. In addition, the secretion of vitamin D, bile and other related substances will also affect the growth of human bones to varying degrees.
The effects of endocrine on bone growth, such as sex hormones, parathyroid hormones, adrenal cortical hormones, alkaline phosphatase, etc. also have a certain impact on bone growth.
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In addition, exercise is part of a healthy lifestyle.
If the human body does not move accordingly during the growth process, then the growth of joints will not grow in a direction suitable for human movement. For example, the weight-bearing joint surface bone is thicker, and for example, different bones are subjected to different external stresses and arranged in different directions. If the external stress is not withstood at the right time, then the corresponding bones of the human body may not be tight enough, resulting in osteoporosis and other phenomena, and may also cause changes in the shape of the joint bones. Therefore, moderate exercise is also very necessary.
03
Children who are developing are too tall or too low
All require extra attention from parents
One reason why the child is too tall may be that the parents themselves are taller, and another factor may be excessive auxin secretion. Auxin has the effect of promoting bone growth, and when secreted in excess, it is possible to develop gigantism.
The child's height is too low, one may be due to the influence of genetic factors, the other may be because of not receiving enough nutrients during growth and development, resulting in stunted physical development, and the uneven secretion of related growth hormone in the body, which eventually leads to unsatisfactory height.
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The determining factor in the final height of the boys in the news is genetics. Parents are low in height and do not detect genetic problems and environmental factors affecting children's height in time when boys are young. For example, whether the nutritional intake of children during the period of bone growth and development is sufficient, whether the protein intake is up to standard, whether the bones are reasonably exercised, etc., there is no relevant treatment.
Of course, most people's growth process is normal, as long as enough nutrients are absorbed during development, there is no need to pay excessive attention to height. If there is an abnormal height development, such as the height of the child in puberty has not changed within half a year, you can go to the hospital for relevant examinations early, early detection and early treatment, and follow the doctor's advice for manual intervention.