Three golden stages for height growth in children

September 30, 2018 | By NuBest

Human height growth takes place continuously from fetus to adulthood (usually 22 years old for females and 25 years old for males). However, there are certain times that scientists consider the "golden stages" for the height growth. Understanding these stages, mothers will plan to care for children's height in the most effective way and help them achieve maximum height.

The golden stages for the height growth in children
Some notes in taking care of children for maximum height growth

The golden stages for the height growth in children

According to top nutritionists, there are three stages which are considered the golden stages for height growth in children. If children are well-cared for nutrition, exercise and sleep during these stages, they will own outstanding height in the future.

Pregnancy

Many pregnant women are unaware that their children's height is shaped right in the gestation period and is largely dependent on mothers' nutrition and mental states.

Since the fourth month of the gestation period, children's skeletal systems have begun to be formed and developed rapidly. At this time, children also need to be sufficiently provided with nutrients, especially calcium, to get the best bone growth. Therefore, right from the beginning of the gestation period, especially after the fourth month, pregnant women need to eat a lot of calcium-rich foods to meet the bodies' calcium needs as well as help children achieve the best height when they are born and facilitate children's later height growth.

Pregnant women should pay attention to nutrition during pregnancy.

If pregnant women have proper diets, good mental health and proper rest and their weights increase about 8-15 kilograms, their children can reach standard height, usually 50 cm.

Besides, with the following formulas, parents can also "predict" their children's adult height based on children's height at birth:

Adult height of boys = Height at birth / 0.2949 (cm)
Adult height of girls = Height at birth / 0.3109 (cm)

0-3 years old

The next stage for height growth in children is the period from 0 to 3 years old. If children are well-nurtured, they will grow 25 cm in the first 12 months and 10 cm per year in the next two years. As such, in 3 years, your children can grow up to 45 cm. In order to do this, mothers need to take care of children thoroughly in many aspects:

Nutrition: Children should be fully breastfed for the first six months without adding any nutritional sources, even water. Breast milk contains full of nutrients for children while also enhancing the immune system and preventing diarrhea. After 6 months, mothers may give children formula milk, porridge and other nutritional sources. However, children's diets should be consulted by a nutritionist.

0-3 years old is an important period to take care of children's height.

Health care: Children should be vaccinated on time to prevent the risks of common illnesses. Simultaneously, children also need to be sunbathed daily before 8:00 AM and after 4:00 PM for 15 to 30 minutes for their bodies to synthesize vitamin D, which supports the growth of bones and joints. Moreover, children need to get enough sleep in order to facilitate height growth.

Puberty

This is the "last chance" to promote children's height growth. This period varies between children but usually occurs between the age of 10-16 for females and between the age of 12-18 for males.

If children are taken care of properly during puberty, they will grow 8-12 cm per year. After that, their height continues to grow but the height growth rate is not significant. Their height will stop growing after the age of 20.

Some notes in taking care of children for maximum height growth

Proper nutritional supplementation: Nutrition plays a large part in human height growth. Therefore, mothers need to pay attention to building proper diets to ensure the sufficient provision of essential nutrients for children's height growth such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, vitamin D3, vitamin K2, etc.

Guide your children to appropriate exercise: In addition to nutrition, exercise also influences human height growth. Therefore, mothers should facilitate their children's participation in some height-increasing sports such as swimming, volleyball, basketball, jogging, cycling, or rope jumping depending on children's interests and competencies.

Proper attention to sleep: Sufficient growth hormone production is essential for children to grow taller. However, the growth hormone is secreted most while children sleep most deeply at night. Therefore, parents should remind children to go to bed early, preferably before 10:00 PM, to ensure good health and help the growth hormone secretion occur most favorably.

Take care of children's mental health: A research team in health science at Linkoping University in Sweden has conducted a study and concluded that prolonged stress adversely affects children's immune system and blood circulation, causes disturbances in thyroid hormone levels and a decline in height growth as well as harms the nervous system. Therefore, parents should pay much attention to children's mental health.

(*) All pictures shown are for illustration purpose only.

THE ABOVE INFORMATION IS FOR REFERENCE ONLY and shall not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or starting any medication or treatment without discussing it with a qualified health professional.