How to ensure nutrition for children as they grow taller? Why do experts recommend moderate hunger?

Author: Jiang Jingxiong, researcher at Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Reviewer: Wu Xueyan, Chief Physician, Peking Union Medical College Hospital

Good fertilizer grows good flowers. Similarly, if you want your child to get a head start in height, it is crucial to ensure adequate nutrition.

1. What nutrients do children need to grow taller?

In a child's daily diet, a balanced intake of three major types of nutrients should be ensured, namely: protein foods, carbohydrates, vitamins and fiber.

① Protein foods

Protein foods contribute to children's height development and intelligence growth. Among all foods,

Meat, eggs and milk are rich in protein and can be used as the main source of protein.

Generally speaking, children over one year old can meet their daily protein needs by eating 50g of meat, 1 egg and 500ml of milk. There is no need to increase the amount as they get older.

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② Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates can provide children with the energy they need every day. They are the basic nutrients for children's height and weight growth, and are mainly consumed through various staple foods in each meal.

Therefore, we can check the child's weight every week to adjust the amount of staple food he should eat. For example, generally, kindergarten children gain 1-2kg per year, and a monthly weight gain of 0.1kg is more appropriate. So, if you weigh your child every week and find that he has gained 0.1kg in a week and 0.4kg in a month, this growth rate is too fast. At this time, it is recommended that he eat less staple food on the original basis.

③ Vitamins and Fiber

The main function of vitamins and cellulose is to maintain intestinal health and maintain the body's immunity at a normal level. They can usually be taken in by eating vegetables and fruits.

We can adjust the intake of vegetables and fruits according to the health of the child's gastrointestinal tract, that is, whether the bowel movements are normal. If constipation occurs, it is recommended to increase the intake.

But I would like to remind you that for children, it is best to eat vegetables as the main food and fruits as the supplement. This is because fruits are actually a double-edged sword. Although they are rich in vitamins and fiber, they taste too sweet, which is not conducive to the development of children's taste. They are also easy to be over-consumed, leading to rapid weight gain.

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2. Do children need additional nutrients?

Some children are picky eaters and do not eat meat, eggs, or milk. In the long run, they may not get enough protein. In this case, we need to supplement some extra protein.

Protein powder is a very good supplement because it has a high protein content and because its energy density and nutritional density are relatively high, you don’t need to eat a lot to achieve the effect of protein supplementation.

When choosing protein powder, we should pay attention to four points:

① Give priority to non-soy protein powder, that is, try to avoid using protein powder made from soy products. Because protein powder made from soy products contains soy isoflavones, which is a kind of phytoestrogen, which will advance the child's bone age, shorten the child's height growth period, and is not conducive to height growth.

② Choose high-quality products with high purity and good quality.

③ Choose protein powder that suits your child’s taste. Different protein powders have different flavors. Some protein powders have a strong bean smell, and if your child doesn’t like it, it will be difficult for them to stick to it.

④ You can also choose some protein powders that contain additional nutrients within the economic scope. For example, some protein powders contain DHA and algae oil, which can also promote intellectual development.

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In addition, vitamins A and D are essential substances for children's height growth, but they are often difficult to obtain through food and are easily deficient, so attention should also be paid to additional supplementation.

The main source of vitamin D is sun exposure, so if the child's height is as expected, it means that he or she may have received good sun exposure and you can first supplement a preventive dose (about 400-800 international units per day). However, if the height is still different from the ideal, you should appropriately increase the amount of vitamin D supplementation under the guidance of a doctor.

Although vitamin A is available in food, it often needs to be converted to a certain proportion before it can be absorbed, so additional supplementation is often needed. Generally speaking, children under three years old should regularly supplement vitamins A and D, which can not only promote height development, but also prevent the occurrence of rickets in children.

In addition, we should also pay attention to calcium supplementation. Calcium is the main component of bones and is directly related to a child's bone growth. Although meat, eggs and milk in the daily diet are rich in calcium, due to environmental and other factors, each person's individual absorption rate is different, so some people may have insufficient calcium.

Regularly monitoring your height and height growth rate, or going to the hospital to measure bone density can help us determine whether we should take calcium supplements.

3. Why does moderate hunger help children grow taller?

Children's height growth needs the help of growth hormone. If the growth hormone is secreted too little, growth retardation is likely to occur. If the secretion is too much, gigantism is likely to occur.

Growth hormone is usually secreted between 11 pm and 1 am when blood sugar is relatively low. Therefore, if a child has been eating during the day and is not hungry, or eats a lot before going to bed at night, it can easily lead to a decrease in growth hormone secretion, which is not conducive to height growth.

Therefore, it is recommended that on the basis of meeting the daily nutritional needs, you should let your child maintain a certain sense of hunger, which will make it easier for him to grow taller!