Buzz
However, many parents don't pay attention to this issue and simply feed their children based on intuition without specific plans. As a result, when the child grows up, they may find that their child is shorter than their peers of the same age and rush to give them height-increasing medications.
However, most of the height-increasing medications on the market promising 'breakthrough growth in just 1 month' or 'optimal height increase'... contain growth hormones. These growth hormones are synthetic products made by biotechnological gene recombination, which simultaneously stimulate cell growth in the body. However, not every child is suitable for using these medications, and they can also cause many side effects such as water retention, edema, increased frequency of diabetes, cardiovascular problems... Therefore, when using them, parents need to consult a specialist doctor.
And to avoid the situation of 'waiting until the water reaches the neck before jumping,' parents need to plan for comprehensive development for their child from pregnancy, and make appropriate adjustments for each stage of their child's development.
1. Pay Attention to the 3 Golden Stages for Maximizing Child Height Growth
Even though we continue to grow until we're 25 years old, depending on the individual, to achieve optimal height, parents need to consider the following 3 golden stages:
– The prenatal stage
During this stage, if the expectant mother receives sufficient calcium and nutrients, the newborn will have a height of about 50cm and weigh around 3kg.
– The 0-3 years stage
During the period from birth to 3 years old, children can increase by 25cm in the first year and 10cm in each subsequent two years. According to scientific calculations, an adult's height will be twice the height they achieved at 4 years old. Therefore, if a child is 85cm tall at 4 years old, their adult height will be around 170cm.
– The adolescence stage (from 10-16 years old for girls and 12-18 years old for boys)
This is the stage where, in 1-2 years, a child's height can increase by 8-12cm each year, although it's not precisely predictable which stage. So, what should you do to help your child achieve the best height and stay healthy?
2. Optimal ways to increase height for children
To help your child achieve the best height, parents need to combine 3 measures:
2.1 Balanced nutrition
For the best height, a child must have good health for comprehensive development. Of course, in the first 6 months, mothers should exclusively breastfeed their babies, as breast milk provides all the nutrients for the overall development of the baby's physique and brain.
From the weaning stage, mothers can supplement some nutrients for their child, but it's not until the age of 2 that a child can receive all the necessary nutrients from meals.
At that time, parents need to divide the day into 3 main meals and add 1-2 snacks. The main meals should provide all 4 food groups: carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Snacks can be simple foods like milk, sponge cake, potatoes, sweet soup, smoothies, etc.
Parents can maintain this diet until the end of elementary school, around the age of 10. After that, as the child enters puberty, their food intake will increase, making it easier for parents to organize nutrient supplementation through daily meals for the child.
2.2 Supplementing specific nutrients
Although foods themselves contain many nutrients and may be sufficient for a child's height development, a significant amount of nutrients in food can be lost during processing, especially seasonal fruits and vegetables which naturally have fewer nutrients. Therefore, to ensure adequate nutrition for a child's height development, parents need to supplement the following functional foods:
– Calcium
This is the main ingredient for bone formation in children, especially during the critical height development stages we mentioned earlier.
Currently, there are various functional foods on the market that supplement calcium. Among them, Calcium milk bio island tablets imported from Australia are highly regarded by many experts, and mothers can consider them.
– Vitamin D3
During the process of cartilage to bone transformation, Vitamin D3 converts to its active form called Calcitriol, which stimulates calcium transport into bones. Therefore, even with ample calcium supplementation, without Vitamin D3, it won't be effective.
Vitamin D3 is abundant in foods like shellfish, soy milk, etc., but as mentioned earlier, it easily degrades during processing, so the actual amount of Vitamin D3 absorbed by the body through food is very little, if any.
Therefore, parents can supplement Vitamin D3 for their children through functional foods such as Vitamin D3 Ostelin from Australia. This line of Vitamin D3 also has different versions for children at various ages, so parents can choose the most suitable one based on their child's age.
– Lysine
As an essential amino acid for promoting children's height growth, it helps improve appetite and enhance calcium absorption and metabolism. However, similar to Vitamin D3, it is difficult to synthesize through food alone, so mothers need to supplement it through dietary supplements.
Among the various lysine supplements, Lysine powder – Lysine Starter for Kids from Australia is one of the highly rated products by many experts. Mothers can also consider this for their children.
2.3 Increase Exercise
Along with nutrient supplementation, increasing physical exercise with height-enhancing exercises will also help boost a child's height.
Height-increasing exercises for children include: stretching, swimming, running, jumping rope, etc.
By implementing all these measures simultaneously, your child will surely be able to develop height in the most comprehensive way. With this information, we hope parents will have the knowledge to help their children achieve optimal height growth.
