In daily work, many parents often ask, how can parents make their children grow taller if they are not tall? Some people also asked, what should I do if my child's height is always lower than the standard value during physical examination?
On April 6, Tang Xiliang, a national nutrition and health care expert, president and chief physician of Hunan Chest Hospital, said that nutrition is the key to children's growth.
Acquired factors related to children's growth and development include nutrition, exercise, sleep and so on. Nutrition is an extremely important factor. Whether a child is tall or not has a lot to do with eating scientifically.
Some research data show that spring is a season of vigorous metabolism, accelerated blood circulation and vigorous secretion of growth hormone by children, which provides a strong impetus for growth.
A study by the World Health Organization confirmed that children's growth and development have obvious seasonality, and March to May is the fastest time period for children's height growth.
In addition, in the process of children's height development, there are two golden periods. Before the age of 3, the height of children changes fastest, and the total length of three years can reach about 45 cm. Another is adolescence, during which the height can be increased by 25-30 cm.
Therefore, we must firmly grasp these golden periods that enable children to achieve a small leap in height.
Dean Tang Xiliang said that in order to grasp the critical period of children's growth and development in spring, parents and friends need to supplement their children with adequate protein and calcium, as well as appropriate amounts of vitamin A and zinc, and at the same time achieve a balanced diet and a combination of meat and vegetables.
Protein is the foundation of life and a long-term factor, and participates in the formation of pituitary growth hormone, thyroid hormone, adrenaline and other hormones closely related to growth.
At the same time, immunoglobulin can maintain the immune function of the body; Enzyme protein can promote the digestion, absorption and utilization of food;
Hemoglobin, lipoprotein, transferrin and retinol-binding protein in blood have the function of transporting nutrients, and collagen generates connective tissue, which constitutes the main components of bones such as bones, blood vessels and ligaments.
Therefore, the important physiological functions of the human body are inseparable from protein's participation.
So what does the child eat to supplement protein?
Dean Tang Xiliang said that the quality of protein in diet is not high enough, especially the lysine content which is beneficial to growth is insufficient.
Therefore, children must have enough high-quality protein for three meals a day, including fish, shrimp, meat, eggs, milk and bean products.
Calcium plays a very important role in bone development and height growth.
The growth of height is mainly the growth of long bones, 70% of which are made of calcium. Adequate calcium can provide necessary raw materials for bone growth.
Dairy products contain the most calcium, and the calcium content can generally reach 100mg/ 100ml. In addition, bean products and green vegetables such as oily wheat, amaranth and shepherd's purse are also rich in calcium.
In addition to daily intake of foods rich in calcium, the absorption of calcium in the body is also very important.
The human body needs vitamin D to help the absorption of calcium, and children can get vitamin D through sunlight, diet and supplements.
Long-term clinical experience has proved that vitamin D400IU/ day is a safe dose and can effectively prevent vitamin D deficiency and rickets in children.
If children eat normally, they can get enough calcium from food and don't need to supplement it.
Excessive calcium supplementation can easily lead to adverse consequences such as constipation and urinary calculi in children.
Many people know that vitamin A is related to night blindness. In fact, it's more than that. Vitamin A plays an all-round role in children's height growth.
On the one hand, it can enhance the activity of chondrocytes, make chondrocytes proliferate and activate continuously, and improve the speed of bone growth; On the other hand, it can promote the biosynthesis of protein and promote the secretion of growth hormone; In addition, it can also enhance children's immune function and reduce the occurrence of diseases.
Vitamin A mainly exists in animal foods, such as animal liver, eggs and dairy products.
Brightly colored vegetables and fruits such as carrots, mangoes, oranges, pumpkins, shepherd's purse and tomatoes are rich in vitamin A.
Zinc is one of the important elements contributing to the growth of children's height.
If children are short of zinc, it will directly affect the differentiation and proliferation of bone cells, which may lead to growth retardation (such as lack of meat and weight loss).
Children with zinc deficiency may have eating disorders such as anorexia and pica.
Generally speaking, the zinc content in animal food is higher than that in plant food. Foods rich in zinc include lean meat, egg yolk, seafood and nuts. As long as the diet is balanced, children are generally not short of zinc.
Usually, we should pay attention to the combination of meat and vegetables and diversified foods, such as the combination of beans, vegetables and animal foods, which can further improve the nutritional value of protein, learn from each other's strong points and increase the absorption of vitamins and minerals by human body.
Eat more foods rich in lysine, arginine and taurine, such as milk, peanuts, kelp, spinach, tomatoes, celery, carrots, millet and buckwheat.
Try to eat less processed foods with high energy density but lack of nutrition, such as candy, cakes, biscuits and potato chips.
"Parents should establish their children's awareness of height management, observe, record, compare and calculate scientifically and reasonably, and do a good job in monitoring."
Dean Tang Xiliang reminded that it is forbidden to blindly give children supplements and eat some so-called supplements that can increase their height. This food may be mixed with growth hormone. Excessive intake will lead to precocious puberty, and secondary sexual characteristics will appear in advance. In a short time, the height may increase, but it will compress the overall height.