The latest "Growth Standards for Children Under 7 Years of Age" issued by the National Health Commission began to be implemented. Compared with the current clinical standards, the height of most age groups has "fine-tuned", which also causes some parents to "height anxiety" and rush to the hospital early for treatment and consultation.
A number of pediatric experts in Wuhan said that the height of children is affected by many factors, parents should not be too anxious, blindly increase the height of normal children, disrupt normal growth and development.
The new standard for children's height is here
"Fine-tuned" compared to the current standard
The implementation of the new height standard for children under 7 years old, how should we view the new standard scientifically?
Xiao Fang, an expert in the Department of Pediatrics of Wuhan Children's Hospital, explained that the current clinical standards are developed by the Growth and Development Laboratory of the Capital Institute of Pediatrics, based on the data of the 2005 children's physical development survey in nine provinces/cities, and the standard table is divided into male and female versions, and the age range can be referred to from 0 to 18 years old. This standard is fully demonstrated and formulated by experts in pediatrics, child health care, child nutrition, health statistics and epidemiology, and belongs to the larger sample survey nationwide, which is more in line with the growth and development of children in mainland China.
Newly released by the National Health Commission, the height standard values of most age groups have been fine-tuned. Xiao Fang said that this is based on the results of the 2015 sample survey, compared with 10 years ago, children's diet, nutrition, exercise and other aspects have changed greatly.
The new standard sees that it is still divided into male version and female version, and according to different ages, each age is divided into seven percentiles, which are P3, P10, P25, P50, P75, P90, and P97.
The height standard is determined by randomly selecting 100 children of the same race, age, and gender from short to tall, and P50 means that the child's height is just 50th, which is average. Therefore, according to the new standard, children with a height of P25 to P75 can be moderate; If the height value is lower than P3, it is a short level, and it is recommended that parents take their children to the growth and development clinic to find the reason; If it is larger than P97, it is tall, far beyond the level of peers, but it is also necessary to pay attention to check whether the child has a large bone age.
The reporter combed and found that taking a 0-year-old newborn as an example, if the length of the male baby is 50.4 cm and the length of the baby girl is 49.7 cm, the current standard belongs to the "standard height", and the median of the new standard is 51.2 cm and 50.3 cm respectively, an increase of 0.8 cm and 0.6 cm.
There are many more such "fine-tunings" in the new standard, such as 3-year-old girls, the current standard median height is 95.6 cm, while the new standard is 0.6 cm taller, 96.2 cm; the median height of 6-year-old boys is 117.7 cm, and the new standard median height is 118.8 cm, an increase of 1.1 cm.
Many parents are beginning to be anxious
Can't wait to send my baby to the doctor
As soon as the new standards for child growth were implemented, 31-year-old Ms. Ning (surname changed) could not sit still. Taking advantage of the weekend break, she took her son Lele to Wuhan Children's Hospital for treatment.
On the same day, on the 6th floor of the outpatient clinic of the hospital, Xiao Fang, a child health expert, sat down. Ms. Ning said that her son is 4 years old and 1 month old this year, and he is shorter than his peers from childhood to adulthood, and the latest measured height is 99.3 centimeters. According to the standards of the previous version, Lele's height was barely at the bottom 10%, but after updating the new height standard, the standard value increased by 0.8 cm. "As soon as the standard changed, Lele fell to the bottom 3%, and the two of us were so anxious that we couldn't sleep." Ms. Ning said that in kindergarten, Lele was significantly thinner than children of the same age, and the family feared that if he did not keep up with the "big army", his height would have to drag his feet.
Xiao Fang said after checking that Lele was indeed shorter than children of the same age, and she comforted Ms. Ning not to be too anxious. Considering that Lele is an allergic constitution, there are seizures at the turn of the season, and it is speculated that height development has a lot to do with allergies, but it is still necessary to check first and intervene as soon as possible.
On the same day, the polar news reporter saw in the outpatient clinic of the hospital that there were many parents waiting in line to see height development. Ms. Wang, who lives in Hankou, said that after seeing the new standards, she was "not calm", and couldn't help but compare with children of the same age around her, falling into a new round of "height anxiety".
During Xiao Fang's consultation, another father brought his 7-year-old son to the hospital. He said that he is 168 centimeters tall, his wife is 158 centimeters tall, the couple hopes that their son will be taller in the future, protein powder, calcium tablets bought a lot, heard that the new standard is implemented, he hurriedly brought the baby to find an expert, hoping to get a few injections of growth hormone, so that he can grow fast, so as not to be shorter than his peers in the future.
Xiao Fang learned by calculating the genetic height that the child could grow to 170 cm to 175 cm, so she refused the parent's request. Doctors generally do not support such a short-term appeal that hopes to increase the child's height through growth hormone.
"Urgent to be high" is not necessary
It is easy to fall into the mistake of increasing height
In the Department of Pediatrics of Wuhan Union Medical College Hospital, many parents bring their babies to see height development every year. Lin Ming, the hospital's pediatric "star doctor", told reporters that he often receives patients because parents are eager to increase their children's heart, abuse drugs or health products, some eat precocious puberty, and some cause premature epiphyseal closure, which is distressing.
When sharing popular science knowledge with netizens in his live broadcast room, he mentioned a small child, who was 8 years old at the time, only 120 centimeters tall, which is lower than most children of the same age. The parents were very anxious, listened to the introduction of friends, and entrusted people to buy 3 courses of so-called oral "height-increasing drugs". In the first half of the year, the baby's height jumped faster, growing 5 cm at once, and then did not move behind. The parents were anxious and took the child to the Pediatric Examination of Union Hospital, and the result was that the son's bone age had reached the level of 11 years old, and the epiphysis was almost closed, affecting growth and development.
"Many parents are deceived and cause irreversible damage to their children." Dr. Lin Ming said that the recombinant human auxin used now is a prescription drug, which can only be injected, and many indicators of the child need to be closely monitored after injection, which is a very rigorous process.
"A child's height, in addition to genetic factors, is also related to sleep, nutrition, sports, mood and other factors." Dr. Lin Ming introduced that although the child's height growth has certain individual differences, but overall it still follows a certain law, and the height of the loss in the previous stage is not the next stage to catch up.
He introduced that the normal average length of the child when he was 3 years old was about 95 cm, which was the first peak of the child's height growth; By the age of 3-10 years old, the growth rate is lower than that of infancy, maintaining 5-7 cm per year, which is a relatively stable period of height growth.
"Usually girls enter puberty at the age of 10 to 12 and boys between the ages of 12 and 14, and some parents think that this is a time when the height can be soared." Lin Ming said that the growth rate of adolescent children is similar to a parabola, and as a whole, girls can grow about 25 centimeters and boys can grow 28 to 30 centimeters during puberty.
It's not good to jump too fast
Precocious puberty should be excluded
Many parents are bent on speed, but in fact, children do not grow up as fast as possible.
7-year-old girl Xuanxuan (pseudonym) lives in Hankou, she has grown rapidly in the past two years, and this year she has grown to 1.3 meters, far taller than children of the same age. Looking at their daughter's long legs, the parents are proud.
Last month, the mother was surprised to find that her daughter's chest bulged obviously, and when she touched it hard, she touched it a little harder, and Xuanxuan cried out in pain. Sensing that something was wrong, the parents took their daughter to the Department of Pediatrics of Wuhan Union Medical College Hospital for treatment.
Lin Ming, a pediatrician at Wuhan Union Medical College Hospital, found that Xuanxuan's breasts had developed on both sides, and the bone age film showed that the bone age was equivalent to 11 and a half years old children, and then a sex hormone challenge test was carried out to confirm true precocious puberty. Lin Ming predicted that the height of the child will not exceed 1.5 meters in adulthood, and it is recommended to start inhibiting sexual development treatment intervention, otherwise lifelong short stature will not say, but also bring a series of psychological problems.
This makes the parents thunder, both husband and wife are big and tall, how can the daughter be short. Lin Ming explained that although Xuanxuan's current height ranks high among children of the same age, this is the "growth acceleration" caused by precocious puberty, like long-distance running, the second half of the stamina is insufficient, and the final size can only be "swept away" among her peers.
Lin Ming noticed that Xuanxuan weighed 35 kg and had a BMI (body mass index) of 20.7, which was overweight, which was the most important factor inducing precocious puberty in children. Immediately, Xuanxuan began standardized treatment in Union Hospital.
"Precocious puberty not only causes a child's height to stagnate, but also affects the reproductive system." Lin Ming said that if a girl develops secondary sexual characteristics before the age of 8 and a boy before the age of 9, it is necessary for professional pediatricians to evaluate, eliminate organic problems, and then formulate corresponding treatment plans.
Being too obese also affects growing taller
"Many parents only pay attention to their children's height, but ignore their children's weight, which is also an important indicator that affects their children's height." Liu Hua, a child health doctor at Wuhan Children's Hospital, introduced that in fact, weight and body mass index, that is, BMI = weight (kg) ÷ height (meters) squared, which is also very important, is an important indicator to reflect the evenness of body shape and judge whether it is overweight and obesity.
Liu Hua analyzed that with the improvement of living standards, parents pay more and more attention to children's nutritional level, but some children eat well, move less, and are obviously fat. If the child is too obese, the risk of accelerated bone age increases, "shortening" the time period for the child to grow taller, and affecting the final height of adulthood.
In addition, obese children are also prone to high blood pressure, hyperinsulinemia, fatty liver, atherosclerosis and other diseases, leaving health risks. In addition, some children may also affect mental health due to obesity, which will also affect the child's endocrine status, which in turn affects height growth.
Don't believe these tall "pits"
●To grow taller, do you need to supplement calcium?
When it comes to growing taller, parents' first reaction is to drink more milk and eat calcium tablets, which is actually not right.
First of all, children can grow taller, inseparable from the secretion of growth hormone, the balance of dietary nutrition, necessary exercise, etc., which is not simply calcium supplementation. Of course, calcium deficiency is not good, scientific prevention of calcium deficiency calcium supplement is the most important. Secondly, simply supplementing calcium and supplementing excessive amounts is not good. Eating too much calcium tablets, the child is constipated, fractures, premature calcification of bones may come to the door. If you drink too much milk, the child eats less at dinner, and the nutritional intake will be affected, but it will affect the growth of the child.
●Playing ball and skipping rope can be promoted?
The traditional concept believes that skipping rope, swimming, playing basketball, these are sports that promote children's growth, but they are not.
All physical exercise can help children prevent obesity, increase bone mass, promote growth hormone secretion, and thus make children grow taller. Therefore, parents can let their children choose their favorite sports and stick to exercise.
●Hit growth hormone, cause harm?
This is a common misconception. The hormones often said by the people generally refer to glucocorticoids, and long-term use can cause side effects such as central obesity and growth retardation. But "growth hormone" is a protein synthesized and secreted by the cells of the anterior pituitary gland of the brain, which is a peptide hormone that mainly promotes bone growth and makes children grow taller. It is safe to use as long as it is under the guidance of a doctor.
Special reminder that normal children can not play growth hormone casually, otherwise it will directly participate in the body's metabolism, raise blood sugar, accelerate fat decomposition, reduce fat deposition, and promote protein synthesis; The indirect effect is through insulin-like growth factors, which allow cells to proliferate.
Therefore, the abuse of growth hormone may stimulate the growth of existing tumors, aggravate the process of metabolic syndrome, clinically growth hormone therapy has its strict indications, need to use growth hormone therapy under the guidance of a doctor.
●The child is not tall, can you grab some Chinese medicine supplements?
Some parents give their children Chinese medicines such as deer antler velvet and American ginseng, which may promote precocious puberty, especially Zihe Che, which is the human placenta, which contains a large number of sex hormones. This is also what pediatric endocrinologists have repeatedly emphasized to parents, absolutely not to use Chinese medicine indiscriminately, that is, the ingredients in it may promote precocious puberty.
Parents do these four things well, and children can grow taller
● Draw a "growth chart" for your child
Normal school-age children can grow 5-7 cm a year. Parents can measure the height of their children every year, record it, draw a "growth chart", and keep track of the child's growth progress at any time.
Make sure your child sleeps well
Growth hormone peaks within 1-2 hours after falling asleep, and to seize this "golden period", it is best to let children go to bed before 10 pm.
●Eat more poultry and eggs, and drink more milk
Give your child more fish and shrimp, lean meat, poultry eggs, soy products, seasonal vegetables and fruits, and give your child more milk.
Drinking carbonated drinks will accelerate calcium loss; Some sugary drinks such as fruit juice drinks and tea drinks can also affect your child's blood sugar, interfere with endocrine, and affect growth and height, which should be avoided as much as possible.
● Arrange more outdoor activities
Outdoor activities can not only allow children to bask in more sunlight, but also increase the amount of activity, which is very beneficial to promote growth and development. In addition, outdoor activities can also prevent myopia, killing two birds with one stone.