Chinese parents who are anxious about their daily life are not only anxious about their children's future, but also about their height.
According to a survey by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 50% of more than 10,000 parents expect their sons to grow to 175-180cm and their daughters to be between 165-170cm. Nearly 4 percent expect their sons to be above 180cm tall. Only 2% expect their daughters to be less than 160 cm [2].
Height has a lot to do with genetics. Therefore, the size of the child is a source of stress for ordinary parents.
Is there a chance to change (counterattack)?
▍Parents: You can grow taller [1] In 2022, an authoritative medical journal "The Lancet" studied the data of more than 65 million children and adolescents aged 5-19 in the world in the 34 years from 1985 to 2019 and found that the average height of 19-year-old men/women in China is the first in East Asia, with 175.7 cm for men and 163.5 cm for women, surpassing South Korea, which is second in East Asia (175.5 cm for men / 163.2 cm for women).
After reading this set of data, some people may smile bitterly: their own baby has lowered the average height! Is there a way to make children grow taller?
Genetic height formula [4]:
男孩成年身高(cm)：(父亲身高+ 母亲身高)÷2+6.5cm
Girl's adult height (cm) :(father's height + mother's height) ÷2-6.5cm
The formula measures that the value fluctuates up and down by 4cm.
There must be.
▍Breaking through the genetic height is a skill[3]
Height is mainly determined by genetics, and about 80% of it is due to genetic factors. There are a lot of big studies trying to figure out which genetic variants affect height.
In addition to genetic factors, epigenetics is also crucial, which focuses on how genes and environment interact and also affects height.
Heredity, mainly through DNA replication and transmission. Information such as height and eye color is stored in the DNA sequence, and the transmission of genetic information is relatively stable and generally does not change due to the environment.
Epigenetics is the study of changes in gene expression, such as chemical modifications in DNA that can activate or turn off a gene.
Epigenetic changes are susceptible to environmental influences, such as diet, stress, or medications. In some cases, these changes can be passed on to the next generation, but the stability of this transmission is generally lower than that of the genetic sequence.
Epigenetics tells us that we can change our height through diet and lifestyle. In reality, there are many examples of "my life is up to me, not to God". Lao Liu is only 168cm, when he was young, he laughed at himself as a "disabled person", and his wife was not tall, but his son grew to 182cm in high school. When I asked the secret, it turned out that children like to play basketball since they were young, and they have always insisted on it, thus breaking through the limitations of their parents' height. Moreover, when children grow taller, they must also grasp the three critical periods of growth regulation.
1. Infancy (0~3 years old)
It is mainly to rely on reasonable nutritional supplements to grow taller
2. Childhood (3~12 years old)
Growth hormone plays a role in the growth of the child
3. Adolescence (12~18 years old for girls, 14~20 years old for boys)
Growth hormone and sex hormones work together to play a role in a child's growth and development
The fastest growth in height of adolescent children is about 12~13 to 14~15 years old, and they grow 6-7 cm per year.
If the child's growth rate is less than 7 cm per year during infancy (under 3 years of age); If the growth rate in childhood (3 years old to adolescence) is less than 5 cm per year, and the growth rate in adolescence is less than 5.5-6.5 cm per year, it is necessary to consider the child's growth retardation, and it is recommended to see a doctor as soon as possible.
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▍What should we pay attention to in the three key growth regulation periods? [4-11]
Infancy (0~3 years old): reasonable nutritional supplementation
0~3 years old diet is important for physical growth and development and physiological maturation.
Around 6 months of age, babies begin to gradually introduce complementary foods. In addition to supplementing the nutritional deficiencies of milk, exercising oral chewing strength and promoting the development of the gastrointestinal tract, complementary foods also help infants and young children to realize the transition from a liquid diet to a semi-solid and solid diet. If this transition is not completed in time, the baby is prone to vomiting when eating solid food, which affects the normal growth and development of the child.
It should be noted that the digestion ability of small babies is weak, and the types of food should not be too mixed. Therefore, cereals and meat are the most important foods that supply nutrients during the complementary food addition stage. Pediatrics recommends that the order of addition of complementary foods for infants is cereals first, then meat.
Calcium: The basis of bone development
Dairy products are the most abundant in calcium, and the calcium content can generally reach 100mng/100m, and soy products and green vegetables are also large calcium-containing households.
0~1 year old infants: Exclusive breastfeeding or formula feeding, to ensure a normal amount of milk per day (more than 600m), can meet calcium needs.
Infants aged 1~3 years: 600mg of calcium is needed every day, and 500mg of calcium can be obtained by intaking 500ml of dairy products per day, and the remaining 100mg is obtained through complementary food.
Make sure your child gets a night's sleep
From 4 months onwards, gradually reduce the frequency of nighttime breastfeeding and ensure that your child is in a deep sleep between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Generally, it takes about 40~60 minutes from falling asleep to entering deep sleep, it is best to fall asleep at 9 o'clock in the evening, get up at 7:00 in the morning, and should have 10~13 hours of sleep (including lunch break) every day, which is more conducive to growing taller.
Childhood (3~12 years old)
Growth hormone affects the growth of a person
During childhood, how tall you grow each year is mainly affected by factors such as exercise, nutrition and sleep, which will affect the secretion of growth hormone. Parents should make sure that their children eat well, exercise properly, and sleep enough every day (go to bed early, don't stay up late).
The secretion of growth stimulus in the sleeping state is about 3 times that in the awake state, and the peak secretion is between 10 o'clock at night ~ 2 o'clock in the morning, and children are recommended to sleep for 9~12 hours a day.
Take children outdoors more, running, jumping, kicking, etc. are all conducive to bone development, 3~6 years old children try to ensure 2 hours of outdoor exercise every day (in haze, high temperature and other bad weather can be reduced as appropriate, but increase indoor exercise).
Pay attention to precocious puberty
Precocious puberty may be possible if puberty begins before the age of 8 in girls and before the age of 9 in boys. This can cause the child's bones to stop growing early, resulting in a lack of growth. Therefore, it is necessary to observe the child's height regularly, about every 3~6 months. If something is wrong, see a doctor in time, do the necessary examinations and interventions, and do not miss the opportunity to correct it.
Adolescence (12~20 years old)
Growth hormone and sex hormone affect the long
Growing taller during puberty is associated with nutrition, physical activity, and weight gain in childhood.
Rapid growth period
About 1 year after the breasts begin to develop in girls, boys grow up very quickly before they change their voices.
After menarche, girls can generally grow about 5~7 cm, and boys can grow 5~10 cm after changing their voices.
Make sure it's nutritious but don't gain weight
Minerals and trace elements:
calcium
Promotes bone growth. Milk and yogurt, dried beans, fish and shrimp, tofu, dark vegetables, etc., are rich in calcium.
iron
Prevention of iron deficiency anemia. Iron is found in spinach, lean meat, egg yolks, and liver.
zinc
Promotes growth and development. Zinc is found in fish, meat, and animal livers and kidneys.
iodine
Prevent goiter. Iodine is abundant in kelp, seaweed, marine fish, sea salt, etc.
vitamin
Vitamin deficiencies can cause diseases that hinder a child's physical development.
Vitamins B1, B2
It is found in large quantities in grains, especially coarse grains.
vitamin C
It is abundant in vegetables and fruits.
Take rest and exercise
Getting children enough sleep and exercising in moderation, especially during adolescence, can help them grow taller.
After menarche, proper exercise can also accelerate the growth rate and prolong the time for rapid growth.
Reduce stress for your child
The pressure of going to school is a big problem for adolescent children. Coupled with parental expectations and nagging, as well as the physical and psychological changes of adolescence, it can be stressful for children.
Parents should understand the pressure their children are facing, communicate with them more, respect their ideas, and guide them reasonably, rather than forcing them to do what we think. This will help the child grow taller and make the parent-child relationship more harmonious.
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bibliography
1.Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants，the lancet，
November 07, 2020DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31859-6 中国19岁男/femaleAverage height 175.5/163.2cm,东亚第一,柳叶刀学术2020-11-11
2. Chinese parents' height obsession: 180 for boys and 165 for girls, Gu Yu data-Tencent News 2022-11-04
3. Parents are short in height, but raise 180cm children, the secret of children's growth does not depend on genetics, Ausubel Educational Psychology, 2021-06-11
4. Girls whose parents are not tall can grow up to 160cm, in fact, they are all skilled...... The Third People's Hospital of Longgang District, Shenzhen 2024-03-25
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