Author: Zhang Miaoying, Deputy Chief Physician, Department of Endocrinology, Children's Hospital of Fudan University.
Cooler temperatures in winter can slow down your child's height growth considerably. However, this does not mean that the child's height development is stagnant. In fact, even in winter, children will still grow taller, just at a slower rate. We can try to increase the rate of growth in our children's height. To help your child maintain healthy height growth during the winter months, here are four things you can try:
1.Eat right.
Eating a reasonable diet plays a pivotal role in a child's height growth. During the growth and development of your child, you need to consume enough nutrients such as protein, calcium, and vitamins, which will accelerate your child's bone development and height growth. If your child is deficient in these nutrients, your child will suffer from skeletal stunting and growth in height. Therefore, parents should pay attention to their children's healthy diet, arrange their diet reasonably, and ensure that their children can consume the nutrients needed for height growth, so as to promote their healthy growth. During the winter months, your child's appetite may increase, so it's important to eat a good diet to ensure your child is getting enough nutrients. Eat foods rich in protein, calcium and vitamins, such as fish, meat, eggs, milk, legumes, fresh vegetables and fruits. In addition, it is important to avoid eating too many high-calorie, high-fat foods, which will cause your child to gain weight very quickly, which in turn will slow down the rate of height gain.
2.Exercise in moderation.
Moderate exercise can not only exercise your child's body, enhance your child's immunity, reduce the chance of getting sick, but also promote your child's bone development and height growth. In winter, children can be allowed to do moderate amounts of exercise, such as skipping rope, basketball, swimming, etc. These exercises can speed up your child's bone development and help your child grow taller faster.
3.Get enough sleep.
Adequate sleep is an important guarantee for your child's height growth. The child's body will secrete a large amount of growth hormone during sleep, which is the key to the development of children's bones, which can accelerate the growth rate of children's height and make children grow taller quickly. Lack of sleep can lead to a decline in children's physical functions, affecting nutrient absorption and height growth, which is not conducive to children's growth in height. Therefore, it is necessary to arrange the child's sleep time reasonably and ensure that the child has enough sleep time every day. In winter, your child's sleep time may increase due to the cold weather, but try to maintain a regular sleep schedule so as not to affect your child's biological clock.
4.Maintain a good mindset.
A child's mood and state of mind can also affect height growth. Mood is also important for children's height growth. When a child is happy and relaxed, the growth hormone secreted by the body will be more active, which will promote bone development and height growth. In addition, a good mood also helps children maintain good sleep Xi, and adequate sleep also helps the secretion of growth hormone. Therefore, parents should pay attention to their children's emotional state, create a harmonious and happy family atmosphere, and let their children grow up healthily in a happy mood. In winter, due to the cold weather, children are less active and prone to boredom and frustration. Therefore, try to keep your child in a happy mood, communicate and interact with your child more, and provide your child with some interesting toys or books to help your child maintain a happy attitude.
In conclusion, helping children maintain healthy height growth during the winter months requires parental attention and effort. Through a reasonable diet, moderate exercise, adequate sleep, and maintaining a good attitude, etc., it can help children grow up healthily.
Let children grow taller scientifically