Nutritional tips to help short children grow taller

Although height is closely related to innate factors such as genetics, race, and gender, the influence of nurture should never be ignored, and nutrition is particularly crucial. Japan, for example, used to be generally short in stature, but with the economic boom of the 70s, the average height of adults in the country increased by as much as 11 centimeters. Therefore, in addition to going to the hospital to find the cause of the disease and actively treat it, it is imperative to adjust the feeding method and master the tips of feeding.

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Assess whether your child is of a normal height

The average length of a child from the mother's womb is about 50 cm, 75 cm at the age of 1 year, and 85 cm at the age of 2 years. After 2 years of age, it grows about 5 cm per year until the age of 12 years. Therefore, the law of growth and height during the age of 2~12 years can be summarized into a formula: height = age×5+75 cm. The result of this formula is the average, and if the child's actual height is less than 30% of this value, he or she is considered short.

Nutrition tip 1: Provide enough nutrients for your child to grow taller

All the nutrients that a child needs to develop are beneficial to growing taller, including direct and indirect growth. The former is represented by protein, calcium, zinc, copper, iodine and vitamin A, while the latter includes nutrients such as iron, riboflavin and vitamin A.

protein

It is the primary nutrient for children's height. Including animal protein and vegetable protein, the former such as eggs, meat, fish, milk, etc., the latter has cereals, legumes, peanuts, vegetables, etc. Animal protein contains complete essential amino acids and high nutritional value, so it should occupy a sufficient proportion in the child's diet, and it is recommended to supply about 2~3 grams per kilogram of body weight per day.

Mineral elements

The most important impact on height is the first calcium element, the daily physiological requirements of children are 400 mg at birth ~ 6 months, 600 mg at 6 ~ 12 months, 800 mg at 1 ~ 5 years old, and 1 200 mg at 6 ~ 10 years old; Milk, egg yolks, shrimp skins, oysters, sesame paste, soy products, green leafy vegetables, etc. are its "bonanza".

The second is zinc, which is enough for children to consume 0.3~0.6 mg per kilogram of body weight per day, and the content of pigs, cattle, sheep and other livestock meat, fish and other seafood is richer. Copper also plays an important role, children need about 1 mg per day, nuts, seafood, animal liver, wheat, dried beans, root vegetables, goose meat, oysters and other content.

Iron, iodine and so on are also indispensable, children need about 10 mg of iron per day, pig liver, pig blood, shrimp, crab, shellfish and other natural foods contain a lot of content; The physiological requirement of iodine is 40~120 micrograms per day, and iodized salt, seafood (kelp, seaweed, fresh hairtail, dried cockles, dried clams, mussels, sea cucumbers, jellyfish, lobsters), eggs, milk and meat are the best food sources.

vitamin

Vitamin A (children need 1 000 ~ 2 000 IU per day, food includes animal liver, kidney, cod liver oil, egg yolk, green leafy vegetables and yellow fruits), vitamin D (children need 400 IU per day, the source is more in animal liver, egg yolk, cod liver oil and other foods in addition to sunbathing), vitamin B2 (children need about 0.5~1.5 mg per day, food includes brown rice, wheat, vegetables, yeast, etc.), etc., and attention should be paid to supply.

Nutrition tip 2: Make three meals during the critical period of height development

Rapid growth period (4~6 months)

Time period interpretation: These 3 months are the rapid growth period after the birth of the child (annual growth of 5~11 cm). On the one hand, eating only breast milk or infant formula can no longer meet the needs of growth and development; On the other hand, the teeth have not yet erupted, and the function of the digestive tract is not perfect, and it is in a state of contradiction between supply and demand caused by rapid growth and development and insufficient nutrient supply caused by low digestive function.

Medical studies have shown that if a child develops malnutrition during this period, it is likely to develop physique and intelligence, manifesting as short stature, frailty, poor language development, cognitive delay, and poor interpersonal skills, which cannot be compensated for later in the solid food stage. This is also the crux of many parents who feel that their 4~6-month-old children are difficult to carry and are prone to illness.

Nutrition tips: Feed enough pureed food. Child nutritionists believe that the pureed food stage is an independent biological phenomenon that is unique to humans and insurmountable. Grasping these 3 months of mud paste feeding not only has nutritional significance, but also has a good impact on the development of tongue frenulum, language, cognition, movement, and even the development of personality and temperament and the exertion of potential through chewing. While continuing breastfeeding, add pureed foods such as pureed meat, vegetables, fruits, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, bread, biscuits, and porridge soup with a small amount of low-fiber vegetables to replenish the nutrients and help exercise the child's chewing and swallowing functions.

Weaning period (1~1/2 years old)

Time period interpretation children begin to change from breast milk to ordinary diet, and their appetite and digestive function are not yet able to adapt, resulting in nutritional intake not keeping up with physiological needs and dragging down development. As evidenced by surveys, the growth indicators (including height, weight, chest circumference, and head circumference) of domestic children at birth are not inferior to those of their European and American peers, but after four or five months, the gap begins to appear, and the gap widens after 1 year old.

Nutritional tips: Add complementary foods from half a year old, such as cow's milk, goat's milk and other dairy products and porridge, to completely replace breast milk at about 10 months, so that the child's taste and digestive function smoothly transition to the weaning period. Four meals a day are arranged, with milk, noodles and eggs for breakfast, rice, lean meat or poultry and fish for lunch, rice, broth and vegetables for dinner, noodles at about 10 o'clock in the evening, and fruits such as apples, bananas and oranges in the middle of the two meals. In addition, relevant experts in the United States believe that people usually list cereals as the first food in the weaning period of children, but cereals are not the best food first experience after weaning, because babies eat cereals after blood sugar will rise rapidly, which may lead to obesity and other health problems when they grow up, and meat is the best food. This is worthy of reference for the Chinese people.

Reserve period (4~6 years old)

Time period interpretation 4~6-year-old children's growth rate seems to have slowed down on the surface, but secretly they are actively "preparing for war" to reserve energy for the rapid growth of the coming years (7~12 years old), so it is called the reserve period.

Nutrition TipsChoose high-protein foods, especially don't neglect lean meat, fish, milk, eggs and other animal proteins. Calcium, iron, zinc and other mineral elements are in sufficient supply. Unless your baby is obese, don't limit fatty foods too much. Don't snub vitamin-rich fruits and vegetables like citrus, carrots, spinach, and more. Bad eating habits such as anorexia, picky eating, and picky eating should be corrected. The recipes for three meals are varied (Japan stipulates that children should not have less than 30 kinds of food a day, and no less than 14 kinds of food at noon), and the proportion should be balanced, and the ratio of protein, fat, carbohydrate and other three types of food (calculated by weight) must be kept at 1:1.2:2.4.

Nutrition tip 3: Remember a few points

Seize the two golden growing periods of May and September every year

Studies have shown that May is the fastest growing season of the year, with an average height of 7.3 mm, more than twice as fast as other seasons. The weather turns from hot to cool in September, which is the best time to compensate for the nutritional losses that children suffer due to the heat of summer. Fortifying your nutrition during these two periods will help your child grow taller.

Calcium supplementation should be combined with vitamin D

Vitamin D is beneficial to promote the absorption of calcium by bones (increase by 60%~75%). Cod liver oil can be added under the guidance of a doctor, or both vitamins A and D can be supplemented, but the dosage should be strictly adhered to to prevent overdose poisoning.

Arrange the ingredients

After half a year of age, eggs, meat (chicken, fish, chicken liver, shrimp, pork) and milk are arranged every day. After the age of two or three, it is necessary to pay attention to adding an appropriate amount of coarse grains, such as beans, sorghum rice, barley rice, millet, etc.

Develop eating habits and enhance your ability to eat

After the child reaches the age of one, he or she should gradually establish personal eating habits, and should pay attention to dietary taboos, such as low salt, less greasy, less high sugar food, etc., but do not interfere too much, and should pay attention to protecting his innate ability to choose food. After the age of 2~3, they will enter the kindergarten and begin to live independently, and it is very important to exercise their ability to eat, otherwise they will develop their physique such as height. Good eating habits include two aspects: one is the regularity of meals, so that the three meals are regular and quantitative; The second is the content of food, avoid picky eating, picky eating, snacking and other habits. At the same time, it is necessary to actively exercise the child's hands-on ability and encourage him to try to eat with a spoon or bowl by himself.

Text/Lan Zhengwen

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