There are 4 essential helpers for children to grow taller, and many people ignore the last one!

Parents are worried that their children are not as tall as their peers. They are afraid that their children will be short and will encounter difficulties in finding a job or dating.

Although height is largely related to genes, with genetic factors accounting for 60-70%[1], the remaining 30-40% can still be adjusted through acquired efforts.

A data analysis compared the height changes of boys aged 5 to 19 and girls aged 5 to 17 in my country from 1943 to 2014. The data showed that the height of children and adolescents in my country has been increasing year by year, and in 2014 it was significantly higher than in 1943. The difference for boys was 4.6 to 20.4 cm, and for girls was 3.4 to 14.7 cm. [2] This shows that improved nutrition and lifestyle play a major role in height growth.

If you want your child to grow taller, there are 4 essential nutrients.

1. Calcium supplement

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When it comes to height, the first thing that comes to mind is "calcium supplementation". Calcium is an important component of bones and is essential for ensuring the normal growth and development of bones and maintaining bone health.

Before the age of 20, people are mainly in the stage of bone growth, and after that, they are mainly in the stage of bone increase. So if you want to not delay your child's height, you have to seize the time before the age of 20, and the earlier the better.

There are two "golden periods" for children's height development, one is infancy and the other is puberty. Girls grow faster between the ages of 11 and 18, and boys grow faster between the ages of 13 and 20. When the epiphyseal line closes, they will stop growing.

If a child is calcium deficient during their growth period, osteoblast activity will be weak, which will affect bone growth. Studies have shown that the average daily calcium supplementation dose is positively correlated with height, and calcium supplementation can promote height growth. [3]
The "Consensus of Expert Guidelines on Calcium Nutrition for Chinese Children" also mentioned the correlation between long-term dietary calcium intake and children's linear growth. After adjusting for other potential confounding factors such as physical exercise levels, nonlinear regression found that boys whose dietary calcium intake was less than 327 mg/day were shorter in adulthood than boys whose intake was 566 mg/day.

Therefore, if you want your child to grow taller, calcium intake must be sufficient. The foods that can supplement calcium on a daily basis are firstly milk and its products, such as milk (drink 300-500 ml), sugar-free yogurt, low-salt cheese, and secondly soy products such as northern tofu, dried tofu, tofu skin, etc. In addition, some green leafy vegetables also have good calcium content, such as rapeseed, radish leaves, amaranth, sweet potato leaves, fennel, edamame, etc.

2. Vitamin D

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On the premise of adequate calcium intake, in order to allow the body to better absorb and utilize calcium, it is necessary to supplement vitamin D. Vitamin D can maintain the body's calcium-phosphorus balance and promote the body's absorption and utilization of calcium.

Vitamin D supplementation can promote the mineralization of calcium and phosphorus in skeletal osteoid and growth plates, thereby promoting linear bone growth.
In addition, studies have found that vitamin D, growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factor jointly affect epiphyseal chondrocytes. Some experiments have found that 1,25-(OH)2D has the effect of inducing epiphyseal chondrocyte proliferation through the local synthesis of insulin-like growth factor. [3]

However, because there is very little vitamin D in food, it is not reliable to supplement vitamin D. The human body's vitamin D is mainly synthesized by the skin when it receives ultraviolet radiation from sunlight, which can provide 78% to 80% of the body's vitamin D needs.

Generally, adequate vitamin D is obtained by exposing both arms and legs to sunlight for 5 to 30 minutes twice a week between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. [4]

However, many parents are worried about their children getting tanned, so they will apply sunscreen, wear sun-protective clothing, and even deliberately avoid sunny areas when going out. Some children have heavy study tasks and rarely participate in outdoor activities, which will affect the synthesis of vitamin D in the body and lead to vitamin D deficiency. In this case, vitamin D preparations need to be supplemented, 10 micrograms per day.

3. Vitamin K

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Growing taller also requires the help of vitamin K. In fact, vitamin K is commonly divided into three different forms: vitamin K1, K2, K3, and K4. What we consume in our diet is mainly vitamin K1, what is synthesized by intestinal flora is mainly vitamin K2, and what is artificially synthesized are vitamin K3 and K4.

Vitamin K can promote calcium deposition in bones and promote bone health. Vegetables are the main source of vitamin K, which is vitamin K1. After being eaten, it can be converted into vitamin K2 under the action of human intestinal flora.

Vitamin K2 has the most significant regulatory effect on bones. It can “bring calcium into the bones”, which is beneficial to the bone’s absorption of calcium. It can promote osteoblasts and inhibit osteoclasts, and has a significant effect on preventing fractures [5].

To supplement vitamin K, it is recommended to eat more beans, green leafy vegetables, animal foods and fish. For example, kale, spinach, cabbage, spinach, kale, cucumbers, eggs, etc.

4. Colostrum basic protein

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This nutrient is often overlooked. Colostrum basic protein (CBP) is a protein mixture isolated from bovine colostrum that increases bone formation, improves the ability of bones to actively absorb calcium, increases growth hormone-releasing peptide secretion and bone mineral density in rodents, and promotes growth. [6] It can also stimulate the proliferation of osteoblasts involved in bone formation and collagen production, and inhibit the activity of osteoclasts involved in bone resorption. [7]

For short children, supplementing with CBP can promote height growth; and for tall children, CBP can enhance bone density. Because some studies have mentioned that height and bone density are negatively correlated during a child's growth period, [3] the reason may be that children's rapid growth requires a high calcium level, which leads to a relatively insufficient calcium nutrition. Especially during the period of rapid growth, the bones cannot absorb calcium quickly, resulting in low bone density. Children may develop hunchbacks and spinal deformities, which seriously affect their appearance.

Although tall children do not need to worry about height issues, they should also pay attention to the improvement of bone density. Supplementing CBP can help children improve bone density and strengthen bones.

CBP is contained in milk, but the content is very low. If you want to better supplement CBP, you can also choose related products, such as CBP high calcium milk, CBP high calcium milk powder, CBP formula milk powder, CBP health products, CBP nutritional fortified foods, etc.

Summarize:

Height determines the future image of children and can even affect their fate. If you are worried about your child's height, you should supplement all the nutrients mentioned in this article. Although calcium supplementation is the first priority, vitamin K2, vitamin D, and CBP can synergistically promote calcium absorption and are indispensable and should also be supplemented~

References:

[1] Li, Miao-Xin, et al. "A major gene model of adult height is suggested in Chinese." Journal of human genetics 49.3 (2004): 148-153.

[2] Zhang Yihong, Sun Junzhi, Li Ning. Analysis of height and weight growth changes of children and adolescents in my country from 1943 to 2014 [J]. Chinese Journal of School Health, 2016, 37(10): 1578-1581. DOI: 10.16835/j.cnki.1000-9817.2016.10.044.

[3] Song Xiaohong, Liu Ying, Shi Jiao, Zhao Doudou, Wei Junxiang, Zhang Nan, Wang Shuhui. Effects of calcium and vitamin D supplementation on height of 2-3 year old children[J]. Chinese Journal of Child Health Care, 2022, 30(09): 1037-1040.

[4] Liao Xiangpeng, Zhang Zengli, Zhang Honghong, Zhu Hanmin, Zhou Jianlie, Huang Qiren, Wang Zhixu, Wang Liang, Liu Zhonghou. Vitamin D and bone health application guide for adults (2014 standard version) [J]. Chinese Journal of Osteoporosis, 2014, 20(09): 1011-1030.

[5]. Yang Yuexin, Ge Keyou. Chinese Nutrition Science Encyclopedia 2nd Edition (Volume 1)[M]. People's Medical Publishing House, 2019.199

[6]Ishida Y, Chacrabati R, Ono-Ohmachi A, et al. Milk basic protein increases ghrelin secretion and bone mineral density in rodents. Nutrition. 2017;39-40:15-19. doi:10.1016/j.nut.2017.02.003

[7]https://www.aoteapacific.co.nz/research/publications/pub-2007-cbp.html

[8] Lou Wenyong, Zeng Yingjie, Li Daiwei. Colostrum basic protein CBP and bone health. South China University of Technology Press, 2022.5