How to promote children's growth? These exercises can help!

The height of children is a problem that many parents worry about. The growth trend and adult height of children are affected by multiple factors, including innate factors such as race and genetics, and acquired factors such as geography, climate conditions, nutrition, and various diseases. If you want your baby to grow taller, exercise is also a very important factor in the acquired factors, in addition to nutrition.

There are many forms of exercise. For children in the growth and development stage, what kind of exercise should they choose that can not only help them gain a healthy body but also promote height growth?

Convenient indoor exercise is better than outdoor exercise

Although outdoor sports are effective, there are many uncontrollable factors. If the weather is bad or sports equipment is not available, the plan may be changed temporarily and it may be difficult to stick to it for a long time. Therefore, for children with heavy learning tasks and less time for exercise, planned indoor sports that do not require much sports equipment and are not picky about the venue are the first choice. The following 4 sports are not picky about the location and sports equipment and are suitable for children's training:

Stretch the back. You can let your child sit on the bed, stretch his legs forward, put his feet together, hold his chest and abdomen, then bend forward, stretch his arms until he touches his toes, and raise his head and stretch his neck. Proper stretching can reduce the pressure on the spine and lumbar spine, increase the intervertebral space, and promote height growth to a certain extent. It is worth noting that this exercise needs to be performed from slow to fast, and the range of motion should also be from small to large to avoid sports injuries.

Hanging. Parents can prepare a hanging bar at a suitable location at home, fix it at a suitable height, and let the child hold the middle with both hands, lift the feet off the ground, hang in the air, and gently shake the waist, hip joints and legs. After 2 to 3 minutes, rest for 2 minutes, and then continue to do it. It is appropriate to do it 10 to 15 times. Hanging can stretch the distance between the vertebrae of the spine and fully stretch the spine, thereby helping children grow taller.

High jump. This is an extremely simple and easy-to-operate jumping exercise. For younger children who cannot jump rope, it can be said to be one of the most suitable exercises for growing taller. Before the exercise, you need to hang a target object at a high place, such as a toy or other object that the child likes, and then encourage the child to reach out and touch it by jumping. It is recommended that the child do it alternately on one foot and then on both feet to better stimulate the growth of epiphyseal cartilage.

Rope skipping. Rope skipping is one of the most common vertical exercises and is suitable for children of all ages. Persistent rope skipping can speed up blood circulation in the bones of the lower limbs and increase the secretion of growth hormone in children, thereby effectively promoting height growth. It is recommended to jump 80 to 100 times per minute and rest after 2 to 3 minutes of continuous jumping. If the child is younger, the amount of exercise should be reduced appropriately. In addition, when landing, pay attention to landing with the forefoot to reduce the impact on the ankle and knee joints. Wear comfortable and lightweight sports shoes when exercising to achieve the purpose of shock absorption and prevent sports injuries. Achieving the purpose of continuous jumping by rope skipping can produce appropriate stress stimulation on the bones, enhance bone density, and accelerate the growth rate of children.

Avoid age-inappropriate exercise for children

Exercise is one of the effective ways to promote height growth, but it does not mean that you can grow taller as long as you exercise. If the exercise method is unreasonable, it will often backfire. It is recommended that parents do not let their children frequently do the following exercises during the growth and development stage.

Long-distance running. Children in the growth and development stage are young, and their body tissues and organs, including bones and muscles, are not yet fully developed. Moreover, long-distance running takes a long time and involves a lot of exercise. Especially marathon running, which exceeds the endurance of children's bones and muscles. Blindly adopting this type of exercise can easily cause bone and muscle damage, which can seriously affect height growth.

Weightlifting. Weightlifting is a compressive exercise and is not suitable for children and adolescents who are still in the growth stage. Children's tissues are not fully developed, especially the joints. If they blindly lift weights, it may cause articular cartilage damage, affect the differentiation and proliferation of chondrocytes, and then hinder bone growth, ultimately affecting height growth.

Pay attention to the duration of exercise and replenish water in time

Choose the right time for exercise. For example, in summer and autumn, when the weather is hot, children should avoid exercising between 10 am and 4 pm. The ultraviolet rays during this period are very strong and the temperature is very high. During exercise, children will sweat a lot, which can easily lead to physical exhaustion and reduce exercise efficiency. The best time to exercise is between 4 pm and 6 pm, when the ultraviolet rays are relatively weak and the body's metabolism is relatively strong, which can greatly improve exercise efficiency and better stimulate the release of growth hormone in children.

Reasonable hydration. There are more hot days in summer and autumn, and the amount of sweating during exercise also increases significantly, which will lead to a large amount of water loss. If it is not replenished in time, it is easy to lead to dehydration and electrolyte disorder. Therefore, hydration during summer exercise is very important. It is recommended to drink no more than 500 ml of warm boiled water in small amounts and multiple times one hour before exercise. After starting exercise, drink a moderate amount of water every 15 minutes. It is recommended to drink 150 to 200 ml at a time. It should be noted that sugary drinks cannot be used instead of hydration, because the sugar content in these drinks is high. Excessive intake will affect children's growth and development, causing children to be obese. It will also inhibit the release of growth hormone in the body, thereby affecting the effect of exercise to grow taller.

You should make proper adjustments after exercise and not rest immediately. During exercise, muscle tissue contracts strongly, and a large amount of venous blood will flow back into the heart, causing the body's blood circulation to be faster. If you stop and rest immediately after exercise, venous blood will accumulate in the veins, which can easily cause cardiac ischemia and also cause muscle lactic acid accumulation. Therefore, you should make proper adjustments after exercise. It is recommended to do more stretching exercises and massage appropriately to promote venous blood return and muscle relaxation.

(The author is the chief physician of the Department of Endocrinology and Genetics and Metabolism at Jiangxi Children's Hospital)