The height of our children is essentially determined by genetics and children grow at different rates.
Some children begin their growth phases early, while others are late bloomers.
Although your child’s development is on track, you may be wondering how to boost your child’s height, particularly if your child is experiencing delayed or stunted growth.
Factors that help kids grow taller
While what is endowed by nature is constant, nurturing tends to make a big difference too. In order to know how to boost your child’s height, we need to understand the factors that affect their growth.
Sleep
In the short term, a lack of sleep will not affect your child’s growth. However, because human growth hormones are secreted during sleep, a long-term lack of sleep will affect the growth of your child. Accordingly, having more sleep can help your kids grow taller.
Exercise
It is well accepted that the human bone adapts to load or stress by becoming stronger and exercise is one of the most effective ways to boost the human growth hormone. Hence, exercising is crucial to helping your kids grow taller.
Read also: Potty Training for Toddlers: When and how to do it?
Nutrition
Improving nutrition is undeniably one of the ways you can help your kids grow taller.
According to Dr Han Wee Meng, Head and Senior Principal Dietitian at the Department of Nutrition & Dietetics, KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH), foods that supply protein, calcium, iron and vitamins are critical to children’s growth. These nutrients are present in the major food groups – grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy and protein foods.
How to help your kids grow taller
Now that you have some idea of the factors that helps with growth in children, here are specific tips on how to help kids grow taller.
Inculcate a regular sleeping time
When your kids go to bed at around the same time daily, their bio clock works to ensure that they feel sleepy at that time, in order to clock in sufficient sleep for each day. This ensures that they benefit from human growth hormones secreted during sleep.
Eat more eggs
While there are many nutrients needed for growth, studies such as this one indicates that protein, particularly from eggs, help children grow to a healthy height.
Bonus: Eggs can be served many ways, and is delicious whether is steamed, scrambled, fried or dropped in soup.
Smaller frequent nutritious meals
How do you help kids grow taller from nutrition if they tend to have small appetites? Rather than try to get your child to eat more at each meal, try to focus less on quantity and more on the frequency and quality of each meal to achieve better nutrition.
High-intensity exercises
Studies such as this one indicate that impact exercise affects how tall your children can grow. Impact exercises are defined as those that move both feet off the ground at the same time and some of the exercises your child can try includes skipping, jumping, burgees, running, jumping jacks or knee highs.
Read also: Understanding Your Preschooler’s Milestones: 5 to 6 Years Old
While we feel for parents who are concerned about their children’s height for various reasons, it is important to allow growth and development to take on a natural course.
Even if your children do not grow up to be very tall, focusing on whether they are happy and healthy will likely benefit them more in the long run.
