7 Habits That Can Hinder Children's Growth

Table of Contents

Every parent wants their child to grow tall and healthy optimally. However, not all growth factors can be controlled, as genetic factors are the main contributors in determining a person's height. However, there are some habits that can affect children's height growth. These habits include drinking too much tea, which can hinder the absorption of essential nutrients in the child's body.

Paying attention to daily physical activity and eating patterns can also help increase children's height. According to Parenting First Cry, daily eating patterns and activity habits also affect children's overall growth. Therefore, it is important for parents to pay attention to children's nutritional intake and physical activity.

Research shows that genetic factors can affect about 80 percent of a person's height. However, other factors such as eating patterns, sleep, and physical activity can contribute about 20 percent to children's height growth.

Various daily habits that potentially make a child's body short include the lack of intake of essential nutrients for growth. Nutrients such as calcium, protein, vitamin D, vitamin A, and carbohydrates are crucial to accelerate the growth process and help children reach their optimal height.

To encourage optimal height growth, parents need to pay attention to their children's daily habits and lifestyles. In this case, adequate nutritional intake and physical activity should be prioritized, as well as avoiding habits that can hinder children's height growth, such as drinking too much tea.

Habits that potentially make a child's body short

So what habits can affect and potentially make a child's body short? Here are the reviews compiled from various sources:

Drinking tea too often

Avoid the habit of giving tea to children. Sweet drinks like tea are delicious to drink, but should be avoided when giving them to children, especially when eating outside the home. Tea contains caffeine that can make children more active and difficult to sleep, which is not good for children's health, especially during their growth period.

According to Kids Health, caffeine in tea can inhibit the absorption of iron by the child's body. However, iron is essential to support children's growth. Therefore, in addition to avoiding the habit of giving tea to children, parents also need to provide iron supplements so that children can get sufficient intake to support their growth.

Consuming excessive MSG

What is the impact of excessive consumption of MSG on children's growth? Excessive consumption of MSG or monosodium glutamate can risk inhibiting children's height growth. Specifically, this will affect the child's bone health.

In research, it was found that MSG can interfere with the production of thyroxine and parathyroid hormones that function to regulate calcium and phosphorus levels in the blood. Therefore, parents need to pay attention to the intake of MSG given to their children to support optimal growth and good bone health.

Often staying up late

Staying up late can affect children's growth. According to Baby Center, the growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland plays a crucial role in increasing children's height.

Factors that affect the production of this hormone include nutrition, stress, and exercise, but the most important thing is sleep. The growth hormone is produced and released intensively immediately after the child falls asleep at night. Therefore, it is important for children to have enough sleep time to support optimal growth.

Rarely engaging in physical activity

Sufficient physical activity is crucial to support optimal growth in children. Therefore, make sure your child engages in daily physical activity regularly.

Various types of sports such as jump rope, swimming, stretching, and hanging can be good choices to help strengthen your child's muscles and bones.

Not maintaining good body posture

Paying attention to good body posture can help maximize your child's height growth. This condition is very important because poor body posture can disrupt bone growth and cause health problems.

Therefore, as a parent, make sure your child always maintains good body posture, whether sitting, standing, or being active. Make an effort to prevent your child from slouching in those positions. Always remember to correct your child's spinal position to keep it upright so that their height can be maintained and their bone health remains optimal.

Lack of water intake

Failing to meet daily water intake needs can have a negative impact on your child's height growth. One way to keep the body's metabolism stable is to ensure adequate water intake every day.

Not only that, high-sugar sweetened beverage consumption should also be avoided because sugar can affect insulin levels and decrease the body's growth capacity. As a parent, you can provide healthy drink alternatives such as fresh fruit juice or infused water to encourage your child to drink more water.

Consuming instant and junk food frequently

Consuming healthy and nutritious food is important to ensure optimal height growth for children. However, don't be complacent with instant or fast food types that seem to make lifestyle easier, but provide little benefit.

Some dangers of instant food include high levels of salt, sugar, and fat, which can increase the risk of health problems such as hypertension, obesity, and heart disease. In addition, instant food tends to be low in fiber, which can slow down the body's metabolism.

As a solution, parents can try cooking healthy and practical meals that suit their child's taste. This way, the child's nutritional needs are met and they are protected from the dangers of instant food.

To ensure optimal height growth for your child, it is important for parents to pay attention to and control their child's daily habits. Some bad habits, such as rarely exercising, lack of sleep, and inadequate water intake, can have negative effects on a child's growth.

In addition, avoiding the consumption of junk food and non-nutritious instant food is also important for parents to consider. By changing bad habits and strengthening healthy habits, parents can help their children achieve optimal height growth and ensure their future health.