What is growth retardation? Let’s understand this definition first
Many elders feel anxious when they see their children being shorter than others of the same age, but they don't know what the problem is.
The latest "Food and Nutrition Guidelines for Children and Adolescents with Growth Retardation (2023 Edition)" issued by the National Health Commission gives a clear statement that growth retardation is caused by insufficient intake of protein, energy, vitamins, and minerals in the diet, causing the height to be lower than the height-for-age range of the screening standards. Simply put, this is a manifestation of long-term malnutrition.
This is not a small thing. It will not only have an impact on the child's current physical and intellectual development, causing the child's physical fitness to decline, and it will be difficult to concentrate when studying. If the situation is serious, it can easily cause diarrhea and even pneumonia.
What is even more worrying is that growth delay may now affect final height in adulthood and increase the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes in the future.
Eat enough 12 kinds of food every day, variety matching is the key
Children are in a critical period of growth, and teenagers are also in a critical period of growth. Three meals a day must be eaten at regular times. Although the three meals a day are quantitative, the diet must be regular.
The plate range of each meal should ideally include at least three of the five categories: cereals and potatoes, vegetables and fruits, livestock, poultry, fish and eggs, milk and beans.
At the end of a day, there should be more than 12 kinds of food, and a total of more than 25 kinds in a week.
It sounds like a lot, but it’s actually not difficult to do.
For example, for breakfast, eat porridge made from millet with eggs and apples. For lunch, eat rice with stir-fried broccoli and braised fish cubes. For dinner, it is steamed buns with tofu soup and fried lean meat. During this period, you can also have a cup of yogurt. In this way, you can easily get everything in one day.
For children who already have growth retardation, on the basis of a balanced diet, it is necessary to specifically add foods rich in high-quality protein such as lean meat, aquatic products, poultry, and eggs.
Many children do not grow taller, which is actually directly related to picky eaters and partial eclipses. When cooking, you can change the same food into different styles, such as eating chicken today and fish tomorrow to prevent children from getting tired of it.
Pay attention to regulating the spleen and stomach, and choose ingredients according to people and places
In traditional Chinese medicine, it is extremely emphasized that the spleen and stomach are the foundation of acquired nutrition. A child's ability to digest and absorb directly determines whether the ingested nutrients can be used by the body.
For children with different physiques, some food substances can be appropriately added to the diet, such as yam, poria, lotus seeds, and barley. Such foods can help improve digestion and absorption.
At the same time, corresponding measures must be taken according to different regional characteristics. For example, in the south, where the humidity is relatively high, barley and adzuki beans are often used to make soup; while in the north, the climate is dry, so it is suitable to eat some white fungus and lily to moisten dryness.
Every place has its own eating habits and seasonal ingredients. If meals are arranged according to local characteristics, it will be easier for children to accept them.
We must pay special attention to these traditional wisdoms. Once the spleen and stomach are well regulated, the children will eat deliciously and absorb well, and growing taller will become a natural and smooth thing.
Steaming, cooking, stewing and stewing are the most nourishing foods. Stay away from fried foods and sweet drinks.
The way you cook directly affects the nutritional retention of food and your child's acceptance.
When preparing meals for your children at home, you should use milder cooking methods such as steaming, boiling, stewing, and simmering as much as possible; while cooking methods involving frying, grilling, and pickling should be used as little as possible.
Fried food is not only high in calories, but also destroys the vitamins in the food and increases the burden on the gastrointestinal tract.
In addition, it is necessary to help children develop healthy eating habits, so that they do not only choose certain foods to eat, do not tend to prefer certain types of food to the exclusion of others, and do not eat very little and overeat from time to time.
You can eat snacks, but you should choose healthy ones like yogurt, fruits, and plain nuts, but don’t treat potato chips and spicy strips as staple foods.
For drinking water, the best thing is boiled water. Those drinks containing sugar must be drunk as little as possible or not at all, because excessive sugar intake will affect appetite and easily cause children to gain weight.
Foods that are cold, greasy, hard, unclean and unclean should also be avoided. Foods with high salt, sugar, fat and trans fatty acids should be avoided as much as possible and not appear in your children's daily meal menu.
Exercise and sleep, two helpers for growing taller, don’t ignore them
To eat well, you must also move appropriately. Moderate physical activity is particularly helpful for the growth and development of bones and muscles.
If a child's growth is delayed, he or she can continue to engage in moderate-intensity exercise, such as skipping, playing basketball, and swimming, combined with some traditional fitness methods, such as Baduanjin, Wuqinxi, and martial arts, all of which can promote growth and development.
Exercise doesn’t have to be too strenuous, just 30 to 60 minutes a day is fine.
In addition to exercise, sleep Equally important.
Growth hormone secretion is most intense when deep sleep occurs at night. Children in elementary school should go to bed before 9 pm, and junior high school students should not go to bed later than 10 pm.
Ensure the stability of sleep time and quality, thereby developing a regular work and rest habit, which is more effective than taking a large number of supplements.
Measure your height regularly and observe your growth curve dynamically
It is not enough to just rely on feelings to determine whether a child has grown taller. It is recommended that parents as parents should measure their children's height regularly, for at least six months of continuous follow-up observation, and preferably for twelve months.
After the growth rate is recorded, or the growth curve is drawn, it is possible to clearly see whether the child's growth status has deviated from the normal track.
At the same time, attention should be paid to children's diet, exercise, sleep and psychological aspects, and a comprehensive assessment of nutritional status should be carried out.
If it is found that a child is indeed deficient in micronutrients, he or she can use nutrient supplements appropriately under the guidance of a doctor or nutritional counselor.
However, it should be noted that nutrient supplements cannot be taken indiscriminately, nor can they replace normal meals.
If a child has poor growth and development for a long time, or the improvement effect is not obvious, and the growth is delayed due to disease factors, then he must go to the hospital for medical treatment in time. Never think blindly at home.
When your child grows taller, you can't rush it, but you can't wait either.
Pay close attention to the key points of rich and diverse meals, carry out the maintenance of the spleen and stomach, carry out reasonable cooking operations, maintain moderate physical exercise, ensure adequate sleep, etc., carefully prepare every meal, and spend every day properly, the growth potential of most children can be fully stimulated and displayed.
The more patience and carefulness parents have, the more hope their children will have in growing taller.
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