In order to grow taller, how important is it to work hard?
[Talk about health]
In the past, affected by many factors, many people had regrets that they could not increase their heights the day after tomorrow. Nowadays, with the continuous improvement of living standards, people's nutrition is getting better and better, coupled with the gradual emphasis on exercise, there are more and more people around you. According to the "Report on Nutrition and Chronic Disease Status of Chinese Residents (2020)" recently released, the average height of Chinese residents has continued to increase in recent years. So, what are the factors that affect height? Can a short man grow taller the day after tomorrow? What are the ways to increase scientifically? The reporter conducted interviews on these issues of public concern.
In order to increase the height, many people searched on major websites, lingering in front of all kinds of heightening information. However, most of the increased information retrieved on the Internet is "pseudo-science popularization", and the relevant questions and answers are often ambiguous, which can easily mislead the public. Earlier, a 22-year-old man in Huai'an, Jiangsu, traveled abroad to undergo a "broken bone heightening operation" because he was less than 1.8 meters tall, causing his legs to be severely infected and unable to walk. News that he might face life-long disability aroused widespread public concern.
1. In recent years, the height of Chinese residents has continued to increase
In the 70 years since the founding of New China, Chinese residents have made a historic leap from "not having enough food" to "eating well" to "eating healthily", and the physical fitness of Chinese people has also improved significantly.
From 2015 to 2019, the National Health Commission organized the Chinese Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Center, and the National Cardiovascular Disease Center to carry out a new round of chronic disease and nutrition surveillance of Chinese residents, covering nearly 31 provinces (regions, cities) across the country. With a population of 600 million and over 600,000 on-site surveys, the "Report on Nutrition and Chronic Disease Status of Chinese Residents (2020)" was compiled based on the monitoring results.
According to Li Bin, deputy director of the National Health Commission, the report shows that in recent years, with the in-depth advancement of people's livelihood projects such as the construction of a healthy China and healthy poverty alleviation, my country's nutrition improvement and chronic disease prevention and control have made positive progress and significant results.
"In recent years, the average height of Chinese residents has continued to grow." Li Bin said that in 2019, the average height of men and women aged 18 to 44 in my country was 169.7 cm and 158 cm, respectively, an increase of 1.2 cm and 0.8 cm respectively compared with 2015 .
The heights of boys and girls aged 6 to 17 in each age group increased by 1.6 cm and 1 cm respectively.
The National Physical Fitness Monitoring Report previously released by the State Sports General Administration shows that starting from the "50s", the average height of the young generation has steadily increased during the growth process, showing a beautiful "upward curve."
Among them, the height and weight of children and adolescents aged 7 to 19 have increased significantly.
A new study recently released by the well-known academic journal "The Lancet" also pointed out that Chinese people have become taller and taller in the past 30 years, and Chinese men have become one of the fastest growing groups in the world.
2. In addition to genetic factors, what other factors affect height
Under the hot search topics on Weibo, "The average height of men and women in China is the highest in East Asia" and "The average height of 19-year-old men in China is 175.7cm", many netizens have heated discussions on the topic of height. "How to increase height scientifically" has once again become the core topic.
So, how should parents judge whether their child's height is normal?
The popular science article of Peking University Third Hospital pointed out that my country will update the "Standard Curve of Children's Height and Weight of 0-18 Years Old" every 10 years. Parents can judge whether the child's height is normal based on this curve.
If the child's height is less than two standard deviations (a standard deviation of about 4 to 5 cm) of the average height of people of the same age, it is short.
If you have difficulty grasping the use of the growth curve chart, you can ask your doctor when you visit.
The reporter learned that as early as 2005, Li Hui, director of the Growth and Development Research Office of the Capital Institute of Pediatrics, led a team to conduct a survey on the physical development of 270,000 children in 9 cities, and established a "Chinese children aged 0 to 18 years old Quantile curve", which has been implemented nationwide since 2009, has effectively helped grassroots doctors, schools and parents to monitor their children’s growth and facilitate timely intervention and treatment.
Experts from Peking University Third Hospital pointed out that there are two specific methods for judging whether a child's height is normal. One is the standard deviation method and the other is the percentile method.
The standard deviation method is that if the height of the child is within the range of the average height of children of the same age and sex plus or minus 1 standard deviation, it is of medium size; if the height of the child is within the range of 1 to 2 standard deviations from the average, it is considered partial. Short; if it is lower than the average minus two standard deviations, it is considered short; if it is above the average plus two standard deviations, it belongs to super tall stature.
By subtracting the average height of children of the same age and sex from the height of the child, and then dividing by the standard deviation to calculate the height standard deviation integral, this method allows parents to accurately assess the child's short stature.
It is understood that there is a certain regularity in the height growth of normal children, and special attention should be paid if it deviates from the normal regularity.
This law is continuous and staged growth. The younger the age, the faster the height growth. Generally speaking, there are two rapid growth periods in a person's life, namely infancy (0-12 months) and adolescence.
So, why do some people grow tall and some people grow short?
What are the factors that affect height?
According to experts, it is generally believed that innate inheritance is the most important factor affecting height. The genetic information of race and family accounts for 70% to 80% of the determinants of height. The genetic target height of a child can be calculated based on the height of the parents.
Followed by nutritional factors, including protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins (such as vitamin A, vitamin D), various minerals (such as calcium, iron, zinc) and so on.
"Nutrients are equivalent to the bricks, cement, sand, steel bars, etc. we use to build buildings. Without raw materials, a building cannot be built. For the same reason, lack of nutrients will definitely affect the growth of height." Experts pointed out that in general, The effect of nutrition on height is later than the effect on weight.
A child with short malnutrition has more weight loss than height loss. He is often thin, has a partial eclipse, anorexia, does not like milk, eats very little meat, and tends to eat more snacks.
In addition, exercise and sleep will also affect height.
If there is not enough exercise or sleep, the height of the child will also be significantly affected.
Emotional or psychological disorders can also affect height.
If you grow up in an environment lacking family warmth and do not receive adequate care, your height is usually shorter than that of children of the same age, which is also called a "social psychological dwarf."
According to reports, 10% of the children admitted every day at the Pediatric Clinic of Peking University Third Hospital are short patients.
Experts pointed out that parents should formulate nutritional recipes for their children, prohibit children from eating unhealthy foods, and ensure that children have appropriate exercise and sufficient sleep time to prevent children from being short.
Experts from Peking University Third Hospital said that judging from the short children who went to see a doctor, many children fell in love with fast food, soft drinks, etc., and did not consume enough dairy products.
To a certain extent, this leads to the early development of children, especially precocious puberty. At the same time, it promotes bone development prematurely, causing bones to close early and no longer grow before the growth period.
In addition, many children's schoolwork pressure is relatively high, usually less exercise, lack of sleep, also have an impact on height.
Experts remind that there are many reasons for children's shortness. Parents must go to the hospital to check the specific reasons for the shortness of children when they find that their children are short, and then prescribe the right medicine.
Don't blindly listen to the so-called "increasing drugs" and "increasing shoes" on the market.
3. What to pay attention to if you want to increase
The reporter learned that in addition to children, many adults are also more enthusiastic about heightening, and many adults are even more affected by their health because of their credulity in the "increasing methods" promoted in the market.
Experts say that heightening drugs and heightening needles have no effect on people whose epiphyseal line has been closed; while "broken bone heightening surgery" is medically called "limb lengthening", but because the risk of limb lengthening is extremely high, it is early In 2006, my country clearly issued the "Notice on Strict Management of "Limb Lengthening Surgery"" to strictly control such operations.
Tian Yun and Liu Bingchuan, orthopedic surgeons at Peking University Third Hospital, reminded that the use of surgically broken bones will face a huge risk of osteomyelitis.
"As an orthopedic surgeon, it is not recommended to perform this operation for the purpose of heightening."
"Young people should not make wrong decisions by obsessing over height." Tian Yun suggested that for young people who need to increase their height, they should use reasonable methods to increase their height before the epiphysis is closed, such as a moderate high-protein diet and scientific physical exercise. , Adequate rest and sleep, etc., must not be promoted. "Healthy mind and body and an optimistic attitude are the source of happiness."
According to experts, as the most commonly used drug to treat children with short stature, growth hormone has been widely used in clinical treatment.
Many parents are worried, will there be serious side effects from using growth hormone?
Experts said that overall, the safety of growth hormone therapy is very good, but it should be used strictly in accordance with the corresponding technical specifications.
The currently approved growth hormone indications include growth hormone deficiency in children and growth hormone deficiency in adults.
In precocious puberty, the bone age is advanced and the height is predicted to be short. Growth hormone can also be combined with drugs for the treatment of precocious puberty.
The primary purpose of growth hormone therapy is to catch up with growth and achieve the desired height.
For those with growth hormone deficiency, it can maintain normal material metabolism and bone density, and improve the quality of life.
So, for children, what are the effective ways to increase height?
Experts pointed out that there are many reasons for children's short stature or slow growth, and various examinations are needed to help diagnose the specific reasons, so that targeted treatment and intervention can be carried out.
Further reading
Growing tall is a comprehensive effect of multiple factors interpenetrating each other
At present, the three methods of bone age test, growth hormone level detection, and head MRI-pituitary thin layer scan can effectively determine whether a person's height development is normal.
According to experts, there are many reasons for children's short stature, which requires treatment for the cause.
If there are chronic diseases of the whole body, it is necessary to treat the original disease; hypothyroidism requires supplementation of thyroid hormone; lack of certain nutrients, such as iron, zinc or vitamin D, calcium, needs to supplement these nutrients.
For growth hormone deficiency, growth hormone treatment is needed; if the child is younger than gestational age and does not catch up with growth, or Turner’s syndrome, growth hormone treatment can also be used; for idiopathic short stature, there is no disease, all checks All are normal and can also be treated with growth hormone.
For children with delayed youth development, they can wait, and generally do not need medication.
It is reported that the possible side effects of growth hormone therapy include subclinical hypothyroidism, which is manifested as increased thyroid-stimulating hormone levels.
At the same time, pay attention to the effect on blood sugar when using growth hormone therapy.
It should be emphasized that hormones may cause changes in insulin levels, especially in obese and adolescent children, children with a family history of diabetes, and special attention should be paid to blood sugar and insulin levels.
These side effects are all reversible and can be controlled by adjusting lifestyle or medication. They can recover on their own after stopping the drug and will not develop into diabetes.
Also note that after using growth hormone, because the growth rate is too fast, if calcium and vitamin D are not added in time, it may cause osteoporosis, bone pain and joint pain, and easy fracture.
Experts say that being tall is a comprehensive effect of multiple factors interpenetrating each other.
In terms of the variable factors that may be controlled by acquired days, the most important ones are physical exercise and diet.
Pediatrics expert Cui Yunpu of Peking University Third Hospital pointed out that exercise is a good way to promote growth. Running and jumping at a certain intensity can also produce benign mechanical stimulation to bones, promote the reconstruction of their microstructures, and accelerate bone growth.
A balanced diet with nutrition is the foundation of a child's healthy growth, and lack or excess of nutrition is not conducive to the growth of a child.
In addition, during deep sleep at night, growth hormone secretion peaks and lasts for a long time. Children should develop a good habit of going to bed early to ensure sleep time and quality.
"An optimistic mood can promote the brain to secrete more happiness factors, which is good for the growth and development of various organs of the body, and also helps children grow taller. Depression and major blows may cause the height to not increase." Cui Yunpu said.
Experts suggest that the increase in height should still follow the scientific rules, especially during adolescence, teenagers should strengthen the intake of nutrients such as calcium and magnesium to maintain bone elasticity.
Zhang Yafei, a teacher in the Department of Physical Education of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, said: “In terms of sports, before the age of 16 to 17, you should do more running and jumping exercises to stimulate bone growth, and some stretching exercises to increase the bone spacing. After the age of 17, bones tend to Completed, doing some medium-to-high-intensity weight-bearing exercises can benefit young people for a lifetime."