As the parents of a growing child, there is one major concern that really bugs you all the time is the height of your child. The growth years of a child are very crucial and thus, your concern is very obvious.
The height of a child depends a lot on the genetics of the family. The height of the parents acts as a determining factor when talking about the height of the child. But that does not mean that if both of you are on a shorter side, then the height of your child will also be short and if the two of you are tall then that won’t make your child grow 6 feet tall overnight. The physical growth of your child does not come to a halt till mid-twenties. Small lifestyle changes can help you in a great way to improve the pace of your child’s physical growth in his pre-teens. Some of these changes are as follows:
1. Taking the right nutrition- In order to make your child grow in a proper way it is important to you ensure that your child is taking proper nutrition.
- Â It is important that your child eats lots of carbohydrates. The carbohydrate will provide the needed energy to the body in order to maintain its proper growth.
-  Calcium is also very important as it will lead to the growth of healthy bones. Dairy products and green leafy vegetables are an amazing source of calcium and thus area a must in your child’s diet.
- Â Make sure that your child does not keep sitting in the house and spends ample amount of time outside in the sun. This way his body can absorb vitamin D from the sun. Vitamin D helps in promoting the growth of muscle and bones. The deficiency of the same can reduce the speed at which your child must have growth otherwise. Apart from dairy, fish, spinach and mushrooms are a great source of calcium.
- Â Protein is very important for your child to ensure that the height of your child grows at a consistent pace. The best source of protein to include in your diet are pulses, lentils, beans, sprouts, tofu, eggs, etc. are an amazing source of protein.
- Â Proteins are the building blocks of our body and thus are really important to include in your diet.
2. Regular exercise- Make sure that your child is involved in some sort of sports or physical activity such as swimming, dance, martial arts, yoga, skipping, biking, etc. as these will aid in his growth. Also, there are a lot of exercises which can help your child in improving the pace of his height growth such as pull ups. Performing these exercises every day can make a huge difference.
3. Avoid things that may affect his growth- There are certain factors which can adversely affect the growth of your child such as smoking, caffeine, alcohol, hormonal capsules, which claim to increase height and steroids can stunt the growth of your child. Thus, make sure that your child at any cost gets in contact with any of these.
4. Good posture- Your posture also plays a significant role in determining your height. An elongated spine, stretched shoulders in the perfect alignment with the curve of the neck with hips straight along with perfect proportion over the feet ensure that those young kids maintain a perfect posture while keeping all these points in mind.
5. Improved confidence- High self-esteem coupled with a positive attitude can fill up for the lack of good height. Tell your children on how to feel good about themselves. Motivate them to take part in all sorts of extra-curricular activities or ask them to take up some hobby that your kid is very passionate about. Being tall is a great feeling, but even if you are short, it is not the end of this world. You can explain this in a better way to your child by giving the examples of people who are short heighted but have made big in their respective fields.
6. Seek medical assistance- If your child is doing everything right such as following a healthy lifestyle, gets enough sleep, exercises regularly, eats well and is still not growing in the desired manner then you must seek professional help. Although the chances are rare, but there are chances that your child is going through a condition such as autoimmune disorder or hormone deficiency which prohibits the growth. In such a case only a doctor can provide you with a proper help.
7. Enough sleep- This is the same principle that applies to newborn babies and infants. When the body is at rest the body regenerate tissues and grows at a faster pace. Thus, persuade your kids to sleep for at least 8 hours every night so that during sleep their body can grow at an improved pace.
Things to keep in mind-
-  According to a study, the deficiency of zinc may lead to disturbed growth in children. So make sure that your child maintains a healthy intake of zinc in his diet. The vitamin supplements available in the market always contain zinc in them, thus, the regular intake of multivitamins are enough to fulfill the body’s zinc requirement.
- Â Also, keep a check on the eating pattern of your child. Your child must eat 3 meals a day along with little snacks in between the meals.
- Â Another thing that can really affect the growth of your child is any sort of illness, thus, it is very important to ensure that the immune system of your child is healthy. This can be done by maintaining a healthy diet for your child so that all the nutritional requirement of your child is fulfilled.
