I'm worried about my child's short stature, but if he's 10cm shorter than his peers, I suspect his height...Don't blindly believe in nutritional supplements
Jul 30, 2025
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#. Mr. B is very worried that his short fourth-grade son of elementary school appears to be shrinking among his friends. Therefore, I intend to have them undergo a growth plate test.
In a society where height has become competitive, parents with short children are worried.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Education in 2023, the average height of elementary school students (1st to 6th graders) is 123.0cm (male) and 121.7cm (female)~It is 153.6 cm (male) and 153.2 cm (female).
Children's growth has a great genetic impact, but acquired factors such as environment, nutrition, and exercise also play a major role.
In general, low-height children can be suspected if they are less than the third of 100 people in the same age and gender. Children who are more than 10cm smaller than their peers or who are 3-10 years old do not grow more than 4cm a year.
Seventy to 80% of low kidneys are cases of delayed growth due to genetic predisposition or constitutional problems without any specific disease.
The rest may be caused by skeletal abnormalities, chromosomal abnormalities, congenital metabolic abnormalities, and endocrine diseases.
◇ Nutritionist blind faith 'Don't drink'…Accurate inspection and lifestyle improvement first
Parents who want to grow their children a little more are bound to be interested in nutritional supplements and growth hormone injections.
But blind faith is forbidden.
This is because nutritional supplements are only nutritional supplements, and growth hormone injections are not a definite solution. Indiscriminate administration can lead to side effects.
Accurate examination and diagnosis and lifestyle improvement should be prioritized for height growth.
Problems should be diagnosed through comprehensive growth tests such as physical measurement, growth plate tests, and growth hormone secretion, and customized treatment plans should be established based on the results.
If there are no special diseases, it will analyze diet, lifestyle, and growth environment to help improve nutrition, sleep, and exercise, which are essential for height growth, and after 6 months, it will be treated after understanding the degree of growth.
◇Eating evenly nutrients and sleeping well are important...Children should enjoy exercising
The diet for height growth is organized to evenly consume the five major nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and minerals.
Take care of calcium-rich dairy products and vitamin D, which help make strong bones, help muscle and bone growth, and consistently consume proteins containing essential amino acids needed to produce growth hormones.
The recommended daily calories are 1,600 to 2,000 kcal, and it is recommended to eat meat (60g, a third of a paper cup), a piece of fish (60g), one to two eggs, tofu half-mother, 200ml milk, one cheese, and 100ml yogurt evenly.
Park Hye-young (endocrinologist), chairman of the Barunsung Growth Clinic at Himchan General Hospital in Incheon, said, `No matter how much protein helps to grow, it is not good to eat too much protein. Usually, 0.8~1.2g per kilogram of one's weight is appropriate. He also explained, "It is most efficient when eating evenly over three meals rather than eating them all at once."
Quality sleep is also important.
To this end, it keeps away from IT devices such as mobile phones and makes the lighting dark. The temperature and humidity of the bedroom must be adjusted to a pleasant condition and the noise around the bedroom must be blocked as much as possible to sleep well. Elementary school students need more than 9 hours of sleep a day and are recommended to go to bed before 10 p.m.
Exercise helps only by stimulating the growth plate.
In particular, exercise that gives vertical stimulation such as skipping rope, basketball, swimming, stretching, walking and running is recommended. It is recommended to exercise 30 to 60 minutes for high-intensity exercise and 60 minutes for medium-intensity exercise.
However, it is important for the child to have fun and do it without fatigue.
Park Hye-young, chairman of the board, explained, `If you force yourself to do it or do it too much and get tired under stress, the exercise effect may be lowered because growth hormones are used to relieve fatigue rather than height growth.'
◇In the case of low kidney, it grows more than 7cm when administered growth hormone...Consideration of side effects, etc
It is growth hormone injection that can be considered along with improving eating habits and lifestyle habits.
However, there is a 'Golden Time'.
Chairman Park Hye-young said, `To maximize the effect, we need to start two to three years before the growth plate closes. This is because growth hormone injections can be expected to have a sufficient effect only when they are continuously administered for two to three years", he explained.
In general, 11-13 years old at the latest for male students and 9-11 years old for female students are the last time to start growth hormone treatment.
However, the age here is not the actual age, but the bone age.
Because bone age and actual age are different, they should be measured accurately in the hospital.
Growth hormone injection is effective for low-growth children due to growth hormone deficiency. According to the results of the study, it was found that when growth hormones were administered for more than two to three years, they grew at least 7 cm. Sometimes he is not tall. According to statistics, 3 out of 10 people did not grow taller even after receiving growth hormone injections.
Even if the growth hormone is normal, the injection may be effective, but it should be carefully selected in consideration of cost and side effects.
Side effects that can occur include joint pain, muscle pain, abdominal pain, and femoral head osteoporosis.
In addition, the psychological shock and hassle of children who receive injections every day for two to three years should be considered.
Chairman Park Hye-young said "If the child is not ready to receive growth hormone treatment, it is desirable to postpone the treatment until it is possible. This is because the child needs to give time to accept on his own so that he can receive treatment well without much physical and mental difficulty," he said.
If the summer vacation is not just a 'rest period', but a 'growth period' of growth and lifestyle improvement, the child's body and mind can grow bigger.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
