It has been one year since the National Health Commission released the latest child growth standards, and I often tell parents that the update of children's height standards is not only a reflection of the current situation of growth and development, but also a reminder to parents, emphasizing the importance of paying attention to the healthy growth of children.
At this time, parents may want to say, I know that the child is in that range, the specific is not normal, or I can't see it, and the height of this thing, and genetics still has a lot to do with it, if the parents are tall, the child will not be shorter (parents' original words)?
In fact, is it normal to look at the child's height? Look at the growth rate more accurately
Because a child's height growth is dynamic and comprehensive, judging whether the height is normal or not can not only look at the absolute value of height or compare height with peers.
If you want to know if your child's height is normal, it is more accurate to see the growth rate of the individual.
Growth rate represents the growth rate of a child's height at a certain stage, and each age has a certain regularity.
Monitoring the growth rate is equivalent to asking the child to "compare his height with himself", and the most intuitive way is to see the growth trend of the growth curve, which is what I often ask parents to do in the outpatient clinic.
How to look at it, it can be divided into two steps:
- The first step is to see whether the child's growth curve is within the normal range, lower or higher than the normal range, it means that the growth rate is abnormal, and it is recommended to find a professional doctor in time.
- In the second step, if the child's growth curve is within the normal range, it is necessary to continue to monitor whether the child's growth rate is stable and normal, and it is recommended to seek medical attention to evaluate the growth and development if it is too fast or too slow.
- Normal: The growth curve rises parallel to the two reference lines.
- Too slow: The growth curve is flat for a period of time, or has been declining more than two reference lines in a row.
- Too fast: The growth curve spikes beyond two reference lines.
Schematic diagram of the growth curve within the normal range
A child's physical growth is a continuous process, the growth rate is not uniform, and occasional large "ups and downs" do not mean that there is necessarily a problem.
But if you want your child to keep growing, you must quit these 3 bad habits, which will really affect your child's growth over time.
Bad habit 1---- love to drink drinks
There is data showing that
This is because carbonated drinks contain a large amount of phosphoric acid, and excessive consumption will cause an imbalance in the ratio of calcium and phosphorus in the human body, affecting calcium absorption, leading to bone loss and hindering the growth of children's bones.
So parents should not indulge their children in the summer and drink more.
Bad habit 2---- Love to eat high-fat foods, trans fatty food ingredients
High saturated fats and trans fats inhibit the secretion of growth hormone.
And, eating too many high-calorie unhealthy foods can lead to obesity, while
There have been media reports before that a 13-year-old girl had her menstruation at the age of 10 because she loved to eat fried chicken, sweets and other junk food, and the bone age test results showed that the epiphyseal line had been closed and her height was only 146.4 cm.
Therefore, these 2 types of foods must be eaten sparingly:
High-fat foods: fried fritters, fried fritters, french fries, fried small twists, cream cakes, chocolates, biscuits, etc.
Trans fatty acid foods: fried foods, baked foods, condiments or processed foods (such as cured meats, bacon, ham, etc.).
Bad habit 3---- Frequent sleep deprivation
Many parents have the habit of going to bed late, which invisibly "drives" their children to go to bed late, especially for school-age children, who need to get up early to go to school the next day, and long-term lack of sleep will affect the growth and development of children.
It is important to know that a child's height is closely related to a variety of growth hormones, and growth hormone needs to be better secreted after entering a deep sleep.
Therefore, sleep time and sleep quality are very important for children's growth.
Sleep Time Reference:
1-3 years: 12-14 hours of sleep
4-6 years: 11-12 hours of sleep
7-10 years old: 10 hours of sleep
10-14 years: 9 hours of sleep
Sleep quality reference: solid sleep process, less night awakening, sufficient sleep duration, etc.
The sleep process is steady, there are few night awakenings, and the sleep duration is sufficient, which can be used as a reference.
Seize your child's "golden period of summer vacation", and it is recommended to follow along:
Diet:
- Variety: Make sure your child's diet includes a variety of colored vegetables and fruits, as well as whole grains, high-quality proteins (such as fish, poultry, eggs, milk, soy products) and more to meet the body's needs for a variety of nutrients.
- Regular and quantitative: Establish regular eating habits, avoid overeating or excessive dieting, and ensure that you have the right amount of nutrients at each meal.
- Appropriate supplementation: Under the advice of a doctor or dietitian, you can supplement calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients that promote bone growth in moderation.
Sports:
- Choose the right sport: Choose the right sport according to your child's interests and fitness level to avoid overdoing it or getting injured. Jumping rope, swimming, basketball, etc. are indeed good options to help with height growth, but also consider the child's preferences.
- Exercise plan: Create a reasonable exercise plan, including the number of exercises per week, the duration of each exercise and the intensity of exercise, to ensure that exercise is beneficial and not excessive.
- Outdoor exercise: Involve your child in outdoor exercise as much as possible and receive exposure to natural sunlight to help synthesize vitamin D in the body, promote calcium absorption and bone health.
Sleep:
- Establish a regular sleep routine: Go to bed at a fixed time every night and wake up on time in the morning to form a stable biological clock.
- Create a good sleeping environment: Keeping your bedroom quiet, dark, and cool with less noise and light distractions can help improve sleep quality.
- Bedtime preparation: Avoid strenuous exercise or exposure to stimulating content (such as video games, horror movies, etc.) before bedtime to avoid falling asleep.
In short, summer vacation is the golden period for children's height growth, and parents should seize this opportunity to lay a solid foundation for their children's healthy growth through a balanced diet, moderate exercise, adequate sleep and other efforts.
I am Wang Yajun of Chinese medicine pediatrics, specializing in children's spleen and stomach weakness, food accumulation, picky eating, constipation, restless sleep, early development, large bone age, short stature and other children's growth and development diseases, clinical for more than 10 years, if our children also have spleen and stomach or growth and height problems, you can ask me, I will squeeze out time every day to answer parents' questions.