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How much of a child's height is inherited from his or her parents? How can I help my child to be as tall as possible from an early age?

How to make your child grow a slender and suitable height, especially when the parents are of average height condition? In fact, being able to capitalize on the prime time for your child to grow in height will enable your child to gain a decent size and gain an advantage in work and life.Although a child's height is influenced by parental genetics, the role of the environment and nutrition cannot be ignored. It is also a wise choice to be able to utilize acquired factors to make up for inborn disadvantages.

Height is mainly determined by the length of the long bones (tibia + femur) and trunk bones, with specific determinants such as genetics, environment, nutrition and exercise.The prime time for a child's height growth - late pregnancy (7 to 9 months of pregnancy), school age, adolescence, theBy taking care of these time periods, you can make your child grow a little taller, but don't try to pull them up, especially by borrowing foreign hormones.


Late pregnancy, the fetus internal organs and limbs have matured, mainly focusing on the storage of subcutaneous fat, bone growth, improve the maturation of various organs, if this stage of attention to maternal nutrition, do not lead to maternal malnutrition or because of overnutrition led to huge children, affecting the fetal bone growth and development can be.


In fact, the most important thing about the diet of pregnant women is to adjust the appropriate food and beverage components according to the developmental stage of the fetus, such as supplementing folic acid in early pregnancy, supplementing vitamins and trace elements in mid-pregnancy, and supplementing sufficient caloric food in late pregnancy, which can be supplemented by fruits and daily diets, and do not necessarily require mountainous treasures and large fish and meat.


Newborns are usually around 50cm in length at birth.Undernourished newborns may be shorter and can catch up with growth to reach their ideal weight and length; overnourished giant babies may be slightly taller and stronger.

School-age children are also at a critical stage of growth, when girls of the same age are generally slightly older than boys of the same age... By supplementing with proteins, micronutrients, eating a healthy and sensible diet, and engaging in more outdoor activities, your child will thrive like a sapling.Daily diet supplemented with milk, soy products, fish and these high-quality protein, add the proportion of fruits and green vegetables, refuse milk tea and cola and other high-sugar drinks, do not eat junk food, participate in more light outdoor activities, aerobic exercise can promote bone growth.


School age is also a critical time for brain development in young children, Supplementation of micronutrients for brain development, and regular participation in interactive, communicative, hands-on, and educational games can all promote brain development in children.


Long bones need calcium, protein, micronutrients, and exercise to stimulate growth, and children who play more outdoors are always healthier, more active, and more proportionate.


During puberty, boys begin to surge in height, gradually surpassing the height of girls of the same ageThis is because boys, stimulated by androgens, are growing faster in height each year than girls, who, of course, are also growing rapidly.After puberty is over, a child's height is basically set and it is difficult to make a breakthrough, especially since he or she will not grow any taller after the epiphysis closes. Now define puberty lasts until about 25 years old.

The constant destruction and growth of bone tissue under the epiphysis is the underlying cause of bone thickening and lengthening.Attention to high-quality protein supplementation and exercise stimulation during puberty can also help children grow taller, and nutritional requirements can usually be met by adjusting the composition of the diet. However.While helping your child to improve their nutrition, it is important to be careful not to over-nourish them. Adolescence is the hardest-hit area of obesity, overnutrition is the most important reason for children to get fat and overweight!In addition, there is also the family environment, both parents are junk food consumers or obese, then the child will also due to genetics and the influence of the parents' behavior, gradually pick up bad eating habits.


Adolescent obesity causes children to suffer from low self-esteem, introversion, and social disharmony, and they may also suffer from family and school violence as a result, which very much affects their healthy growth and personality building. Moreover, children with adolescent obesity are more likely to be obese in adulthood, and it will be more difficult for them to lose weight.


Whether it's late pregnancy, school age, or puberty to help your child grow taller, you need to be properly nourished and never over-nourished so that your child becomes sideways.Although a child's height is influenced by parental genetics, the role of the environment and nutrition cannot be ignored. It is also a smart way to make up for inborn deficiencies with the environment and nutrition.

Although the child is weak now, one day he will become as strong as his parents!


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The determinants of a child's height are genetic as well as acquired influences. Heredity is not an option, the height of the parents determines the height of the children, a result analyzed according to the statistics of big data.



How tall do kids really grow? Genetic factors play a 60-70% role. So we are only able to figure out what to do with the remaining 30-40%. What are the remaining components? Diet, exercise, psychological stress, sleep, and so on.

1. A standardized and rational diet is very important and determines the nutrients that children need as they grow.

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2. Reasonable and moderate sports can promote bone growth in the epiphyseal region. Of course, vertical stress sports can also have a hindering effect, such as weight lifting.


3. Adequate sleep allows the child to stretch unaffected during the growth spurt of the day. Remaining upright during the growth period can have an impact on bone lengthening.

4. Being happy and cheerful can have an effect on your child's height.

Therefore making an effort to do the above four points can have enough impact on your child's height, and now that the living conditions have improved, the children's height mutations are increasing day by day, and the average height of all of them has risen.

Generally speaking, children with taller parents will grow taller; if both parents are not tall, the children's height will be relatively shorter. Many people will say that the height of seven points depends on the innate, three points depends on the acquired, although the height of the parents will affect a large part of the child's height development, but through some of the efforts of the acquired, can also make up for some disadvantages.

There are many factors that determine height growth, such as: environment, nutrition, exercise and genetics. But as long as you grasp the golden period and do some good work, there is still a great possibility that your child can continue to grow taller.

1. Develop good sleep habits: growth hormone secretion in the body during sleep will be more vigorous than during the day, so to ensure that children have enough sleep time. If the sleep state is not good, it will affect the secretion of growth hormone in the body, which is even more unfavorable to the growth of the child's height.

2. Healthy eating: Children should be taught to eat healthily and not to be partial or picky about what they eat. It is best to eat a variety of foods, eat more fruits and vegetables, can take in different nutrients. Eat more meat, can supplement the body's protein needs, but also conducive to the growth and development of the body. You need to avoid fried food and carbonated drinks.

3. Physical exercise: you can encourage children to go outdoors to do sports, sports programs can have a lot of choices, such as basketball, rope skipping and volleyball these sports, because in the process of sports will be used to the body's bouncing force, so the child's body will also have a certain amount of help. And appropriate exercise can relax the child's body and mind, but also can enhance the body's immune resistance. As long as the acquired can maintain good habits, and have enough perseverance, the child will certainly have an ideal height.

Instructor: Shi Ji Peng, Attending Physician, Department of Pediatrics, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical College.

She has worked in a tertiary hospital for nearly 10 years and has rich clinical experience. She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of common and frequent diseases in pediatrics, especially the diagnosis and treatment of common neonatal diseases and critical illnesses.

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Dr. Clove is here to answer that question.

In general, genetic factors account for 60% to 70% of the factors affecting children's height, that is to say, 60% to 70% of a child's future height is determined by his or her parents.

Of the parents, what is the heritability of the mother's contribution to the child's height? A study in the Chinese Journal of Preventive Medicine (Vol. 39, No. 5, 2005) showed that the heritability of height was 0.89 and 0.87 for men and women, respectively, and that the difference in heritability of height, sitting height and body mass index was not statistically significant for men and women. It is clear that the genetic influence of both parents is not equal to that of the child's height.

Acquired factors influence a child's height by 30% to 40%.

For the child's height, the parents' heredity plays a big role, but should not be ignored the acquired factors, the acquired factors on the child's height accounted for 30% to 40% of the impact.


Contents refer to Dr. Clove's popular science article: "How much of a child's height is inherited from his or her parents?

Author / Xiong Huai丨Orthopedic Surgeon Liaodongwan Branch, Shengjing Hospital, China Medical University

Editor / Lee Bad

Height is related to a variety of factors such as genetics, nutrition, exercise, sleep, mental state, disease, etc. It is currently believed that about 65% to 80% of the average person's height is determined by genetic factors.

Whether the child is short or not, you can refer to the World Health Organization growth curve for children aged 2-5 years, generally considered to be normal in the range of the average value ± 2SD. Parents should also learn to record the child's height and weight, pay attention to drawing the growth curve, the child's growth has its own rules, it is not appropriate to pursue the upper limit of the reference value, if you find that there is a deviation from the growth curve should be timely medical care.

There is really no special supplement for nutrition, the key still lies in a balanced diet, you can refer to the requirements of the dietary guidelines for preschool children.

Encourage your child to participate in a variety of outdoor sports. 60 minutes of physical activity per day can promote the synthesis of vitamin D and the absorption of calcium, and stimulate the secretion of growth hormone.

It is also important to correct your child's standing and sitting postures in a timely manner, and to ensure adequate sleep and a good mental state.

Seek medical attention if certain diseases are present, such as hormonal disorders, gastroenteritis, etc.


Author: Zhongyi Gu, Registered Dietitian. Master of Public Health, Tsinghua University. Director of Beijing Nutritionist Association, Director of Beijing Nutrition Society. Eight years of experience as a dietitian in a tertiary hospital, private nutrition consultant for many celebrities. As an expert, he has been interviewed by CCTV and Hunan Satellite TV, and recorded programs such as "Everyday Up", "Health and Wellness Hall" and "I'm a Great Doctor" etc. Top 10 Science Communication Characters in 2017, Top 10 Influential Medical Vs of Weibo 2015, and Top 10 Style Characters of Healthy China 2012.

How much of a child's height is inherited from his or her parents? How can I help my child to be as tall as possible from an early age?

As a result of the rising standard of living nowadays, children's height and development are also increasing. However, the pressure on children to study is far greater than in the last era. There are a lot of children in elementary school who have to get up at six o'clock every day to catch the bus and go to school, which is a very tight schedule. In the afternoon after school they have to finish the homework assigned by the teacher, and it takes them until nine o'clock and some even until ten o'clock to finish it.

Parents worry that their children will be late for school so they wake them up early and sleep late at night. Lack of sleep over a long period of time can have a negative impact on a child's height development. Scientifically speaking, children should go to sleep at nine o'clock and wake up at seven o'clock in the morning of the next day, which is favorable for height development. This is because growth hormone secretion is more vigorous during this time, and waking up the child too early every day will affect the secretion of growth hormone, thus affecting the child's height development. Otherwise, if you wake up your child too early, especially during pubertal development, it will affect your child's height loss of 5-10 centimeters.

I. What is growth hormone

Growth hormone is a growth-promoting hormone that is secreted intermittently by the pituitary gland, and growth hormone plays a vital role in a child's height development.

What factors affect growth hormone

1, Gender factor

Due to the inherent differences in the bodies of men and women, more growth hormone is produced in women than in men. Obviously this result is unexpected, but doctors in pediatric endocrinology in the United States have shown that women do produce more growth hormone than men during the pre-menopausal period. In men, growth hormone is produced at irregular intervals, whereas in women it is produced twice a day.

However, how can we explain the fact that men are much taller than women? This is because the male skeleton develops very differently from the female skeleton and the male skeleton takes up to five years longer to develop than the female skeleton.

2, Age factor

Under normal circumstances, children are at the age of eleven to eighteen this stage is the body's growth hormone secretion of the peak period, but also the rapid development of bones in this age group is in the growth of children is in the critical period. After that, the growth rate will be slower, girls will stop growing when they are about twenty-three years old, while boys can continue to twenty-five years old.

3. Seasonal factors

Under normal circumstances, spring and summer are the period of rapid growth and development of children, the body's growth hormone is more active during this period, the body's activity is relatively large, so the growth will be faster.

4, Circadian factors

Growth hormone is secreted both during the day and at night, but five times more growth hormone is secreted at night than during the day.

It can be seen that sleep plays a vital role in the growth and development period of children. Therefore, parents should improve the quality of their children's sleep and ensure that they have sufficient sleep time every day. Go to sleep before nine o'clock and get up after seven o'clock in the morning of the next day, because this is the period when the growth hormone secretion in children's bodies is at its peak.

Children's height is most parents often worry about things, there is a good height on the future development of life has a lot of links, the child's height can be reached to what extent depends on what parents have to do, if not done properly may delay the child's height for life, the child to increase the height of what should be done in order to help it?

The child's size depends on the parents' genes, there is about seventy percent of the relationship between the parents with high genes of the child's future is naturally high, but both parents are short genes, so the child's future is necessarily short? The answer is not necessarily, although seventy percent from the genes, but there are still thirty percent can rely on the efforts of later life to change, the thirty percent will be utilized, or have the opportunity to achieve a good height.

What should I do to increase my child's height? First of all is to supplement the nutrition to match the perfect, different aspects of the nutrients can meet the needs of the body in all aspects of development, such as meat and beans can be supplemented with protein, calcium can promote the development of bones, a variety of vitamins can improve the quality of the child's body, so be sure to cultivate the child to develop the habit of not picky about what they eat and eat, fruits and vegetables should be eaten, such as the big complementary items, fried foods and anti-seasonal vegetables as much as possible. Do not eat, to prevent the child from precocious puberty, but also to prevent the child from eating too much excess nutrients, there is a risk of causing obesity.

After that it is a matter of habit, to give the child to develop the habit of going to bed early and love sports, sports can accelerate the body's metabolism, accelerate blood circulation, growth hormone secretion will be increased, the night is the golden time for the child to grow taller, in the night the child enters the depth of sleep when the growth hormone secretion will be reached to a high degree.

Some children have special conditions, such as dwarfism patients if not treated is difficult to grow taller, due to the body's growth hormone secretion or not secretion of slow growth, the need for growth hormone to replace the treatment, commonly used in the country growth hormone is divided into aqueous and powder, aqueous with an electronic pen injections can reduce the child's fear of psychology and sense of pain, the growth hormone is only suitable for epiphyseal closure of the patient, the earlier the age of the injection, the more effective. Growth hormone is only suitable for patients whose epiphyses are not closed, and the earlier the age of the injection, the better the effect.

Many parents in order to children's height growth can be said to be very worried, what can quickly help children grow taller has also become the object of study of parents. In fact, if you want your child to grow taller, this thing must be done?

What is this thing? It is the movement!

Under the premise of ensuring adequate supply of nutrition, exercise is the most effective way to promote physical development and strengthen the body. Exercise has a positive effect on all systems of the body. Exercise can eliminate fatigue and make the mind alert and agile. Exercise can enhance cardiorespiratory function, a strong heart and adequate oxygen supply is an important foundation for the health of adolescents and young people.

The growth of the long bones determines the height of an adolescent. Exercise significantly stimulates the secretion of growth hormone by the pituitary gland, which promotes bone growth Exercise by itself does not result in a genetically predetermined increase in height, but exercise promotes the maximization of genetic potential.

In addition, exercise can also enhance the body's immune function, improve the resistance of foreign pathogenic bacteria, exercise at the same time also sunbathing and air bathing, enhance the body's ability to adapt to the surrounding environment. According to reports, children who exercise are at least 2 to 3 centimeters taller than children who do not exercise.

Which exercise programs are beneficial for children to grow taller? Currently, research has concluded that sports that help with height growth include three categories - bouncing sports (such as jumping rope and running, which help with limb movement), stretching sports (such as bars, sit-ups, and gymnastics, which help with bone stretching), and whole-body sports (such as basketball, volleyball, badminton, and swimming, which help with whole-body bone stretching and lengthening).

If the difference between the child's height and that of his or her peers is too great, it is necessary to take the child to a specialized hospital for examination and to follow the doctor's instructions for the use of medication.

A child's height is often a major concern for parents. Online we can also see that there are child height prediction formulas. For example

Pediatricians point out that the formula for genetic height is derived from a probability distribution and statistical treatment and does not take into account other factors.

The Research Report on the Current Situation of Children's Height Management in China, published in September 2017, shows that more than half of the children in China have even failed to reach their genetic height.



The reason is that parents are blindly optimistic about their children's future height expectations, ignoring their children's nutritional environment, failing to plan their children's dietary structure in a timely manner, and missing out on the golden period of their children's height growth.

However, we have to recognize the influence of genes on height, research shows that 70% of a child's height depends on heredity. In addition to heredity, the growing environment, dietary structure and nutritional environment also play a role in children's height growth.

Therefore, seize the two golden periods of children's height growth: 0-5 years old and puberty to help children grow taller scientifically.

  • Ensure a healthy diet.

Height growth depends mainly on bone development, and it is important to ensure adequate nutrition for bone development.

Eat foods rich in protein, calcium, magnesium and vitamins.. For example, a glass of milk in the morning and evening, an egg, eat meat, fish and shrimp, and eat more fruits, nuts and grains. Eat less greasy and fried food, drink less carbonated drinks, and establish healthy eating habits.

  • Enough outdoor exercise.

The ultraviolet rays in sunlight can promote the synthesis of vitamin D3 in the body and the absorption of calcium, so outdoor exercise can promote bone development. So you can consciously guide your children to do more high jump and long jump and ball swimming and other sports.Ensure at least 1 hour of outdoor exercise per day.

  • adequate sleep

Some studies have shown that after 10 p.m. is the peak time for the body to secrete growth hormone. Adequate sleep is one of the most important ways to grow taller, theHelp your child develop good habits of going to bed early and waking up early.

  • Maintain a pleasant mood

Low mood in children reduces growth hormone production, prolonged exposure to criticism and parental bickering can also affect a child's growth.

the reason whyCreate a warm, harmonious, happy and loving family atmosphere, which is also necessary for the child's development.

We can't change the genes that we are born with, but we can put up a fight with the acquired conditions. But this requires parents and children to work together.

The mystery of Wu Yi's height is revealed!

I believe many women nowadays will be like me, after giving birth to a baby, they are fully devoted to bringing up the baby at home, usually organizing the housework or brushing up on their dramas when the kids are in class. Recently, My Family's Boy 2 is also a hit show on Mango. In the program, Wu Yi's performance is also very cute, for Wu Yi, my impression may still stay in my school days to see his happy male voice, that time I feel that this male voice is quite cute, but just not high, I feel that this height is also give him a very much reduced score.

Although it is said that Wuyi has talent and face value, and the character of the person is also very humorous, but the height is a very hard condition, the girl is no way to ignore. In the last program, Wu Yi is also pulling his good friend Chen Xiang to do a very meaningful and very high-tech things, they went to the more famous Institute, do a thing called genetic testing, see this project, I'm still very shocked, I feel like I and technology off the track, idle actually have such high-tech things.

Watching Wu Yi in a test tube inside leave their saliva on it, at that time I thought also need to draw blood, do all kinds of tests, the result is less than a minute, the results need to wait about two weeks. The results of the examination still contain a lot of items, let Wu Yi most want to know is the height of the problem, there is still no chance of growing taller. But obviously for thirty years old boy, grow taller is obviously impossible thing, but Wu Yi's genetic height actually has 174.5, for nowadays boy, this height is very good, plus his talent, it is not possible to be late to get married.

So in the program, Mr. Vega also teased him that he needs to take this test report with him on future blind dates, and that he is genetically predisposed to be tall. After watching this program, my heart is also stupid, because my own height is not tall, so I am very worried that my baby will follow me. So I checked the information on the Internet and finally could not resist my curiosity and purchased a set of tests for my baby.

According to Ann my report shows that the baby's height gene is still very good, is a 179 gene, but this is just a representative of the baby's possible height, not the final result, the living environment and diet above still need to be careful, in the child's two grow taller period, need to give the child enough nutrients, more supplementation of the child's calcium and vitamins, to achieve a balanced nutrition.

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