With a proper diet and a healthy living environment fully provided during these stages, children will develop optimal height.
 |
| The two golden stages for children's height development are the first 1,000 days of life and puberty. (Illustration: Nam Phuong) |
If the first 1,000 days of life are the decisive days for children's physical and mental development, puberty is the final golden stage for children's height development.
According to Dr. Phan Bich Nga, National Institute of Nutrition (Ministry of Health), height plays an important role in children's health and future. There are two most important stages of height growth for children: the first 1,000 days of a child's life and puberty.
With a proper diet and a healthy living environment fully provided during these two stages, children will reach optimal height.
The first 1,000 days of a child (from when the child is a fetus to 24 months old)
The World Health Organization (WHO) emphasizes that the first 1,000 days of life are the most important period, the golden days, the decisive days for children's physical and mental development.
Physically, the 1,000 golden days are the period that determines 60% of a child's future height growth.
Mentally, although the human brain grows and changes throughout life, a child's most rapid and important brain development occurs during the last three months of pregnancy and the first two years of life.
Fetal stage
Starting from the fourth month of pregnancy, the baby's skeletal system has been formed and developed rapidly. At this time, the child needs to be provided with adequate nutrients, especially calcium for bone growth in height.
Therefore, during pregnancy, especially after the 4th month, pregnant women need to eat foods rich in calcium to meet the body's calcium needs as well as help the baby reach maximum height at birth, creating the premise for the child's height development in the future.
Dr. Nga said that if pregnant mothers have a balanced diet, good mental health, proper rest, and gain 10-12kg in weight, the baby can be born with a standard height of >50cm.
Stage 0-2 years old
The period of young children under 12 months of age reaches the fastest growth rate compared to any other stage. Children double their birth weight within the first 4-5 months and triple their birth weight by the end of the first year.
By the baby's first birthday, the lying length (ie the baby's height) has increased one and a half times compared to the birth length.
According to research, children are at the highest risk of malnutrition between 12 and 24 months of age, and the rate of malnutrition remains high until the age of 5. This is also the transition period to weaning, so it is very likely that children are not provided with enough necessary nutrients. This significantly affects the child's development in both height and intelligence.
During this stage, if well nourished, children will grow 25cm in the first 12 months and 10cm in the following year.
After 2 years old, the growth rate is not too fast, about 6.2cm per year, bone density also increases about 1% per year in both boys and girls. However, having a nutritious diet will continue to support the healthy development of bones, which is a prerequisite for height development during puberty.
Puberty
This period has different ages of height development in boys and girls, characterized by rapid growth in both muscles, skeleton as well as sexual functions. In boys, this stage begins from 11 to 18 years old, while in girls it usually begins from 10 to 16 years old.
Specifically, children develop their height best at 10-16 years old for girls and 12-18 years old for boys. This is considered the final golden stage for children's height development.
If well cared for, children can grow 8-12cm each year until the age of 20. However, this also depends on the different diets and exercise regimens of each child.
 |
| Three golden stages to help children develop maximum height |
Source
Comment (0)