Find every way to "buy" height for your child

The baby is lazy to eat and does not like to drink milk, so the more she is forced, the more afraid she becomes. In addition to supplementing milk, Ms. Thu also buys calcium and vitamin D for her baby to drink every day but does not see any obvious results. She takes her baby to see a nutritionist, the doctor concludes that the baby is underweight, 8 cm shorter than the average height for this age.

The doctor prescribed treatment for 3 months, but after that the baby was still 4 cm shorter than the standard. The mother was impatient to buy height growth hormone supplements advertised as "hand-carried from Japan". The seller said "the course of treatment is 3 pills a day, the box of 270 pills lasts for 3 months, can use 3 courses in a year, helping the child grow 3-9 cm". This medicine is introduced to help supplement the body's natural hormone production stimulants, helping bones grow longer.

Ms. Thu was convinced by the "customer feedback" messages provided by the seller, such as "only taking two bottles made me 3 cm taller", or "using 6 bottles made me 9 cm taller in a year". In the end, she spent 5 million VND to buy 6 bottles for a year, hoping to help her child escape being short, not having to suffer the disadvantages of being physically stunted like her parents.

"Now, my child has finished two bottles but still doesn't see any significant progress. I'm very impatient," she said, adding that she texted the seller but they explained that "each child's body is different and needs more time to monitor."

Also worried about her child being short like her parents, Ms. Lan, in Cau Giay, has been continuously supplementing her daughter with products advertised to help increase height since she was 3 years old, spending nearly 100 million VND. Of which, imported milk and vitamins bought from Korea cost over 1 million VND per box. However, when she was 8 years old, she was only 115 cm tall, 10 cm shorter than her peers. Director of the Vietnam Institute of Applied Medicine, Dr. Truong Hong Son, said that Ms. Lan's daughter was malnourished, which was the main reason why the child did not reach the required height.

"I'm afraid my child will be bullied or have low self-esteem because of his short stature," said Lan, adding that she will not give up in the fight to improve her child's height.

In the past two decades, tall stature has been considered a standard of success in Asian countries, including Vietnam. Dr. Son said that the height and physique of K-pop idols are the dream of teenagers and parents. Most parents who bring their children to the Institute of Applied Medicine for examination think that height will affect their children's future lives, creating a breakthrough advantage for the child.

"They feel inferior about their own short stature, so they have a strong desire to increase their children's height," said Mr. Son, noting that many families with good economic conditions are willing to spend all their resources on the golden stages for their children to grow tall.

In a 2019 study by the University of Toronto in Canada and the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, economists concluded that taller people earn more money and get more attention on online dating sites. According to the study, shorter men earn less. For women, each inch of height increases their income by about 1%. American writer Malcolm Gladwell also calculated that, under controlled conditions, each inch of height increases a person's annual salary by $789.

There are currently no exact statistics on the amount of money Vietnamese parents spend to increase their children's height, but hospitals have recorded an increasing number of people bringing their children for height check-ups.

Doctor Tran Thi Ngoc Anh, Department of Endocrinology, Nguyen Tri Phuong Hospital (Ho Chi Minh City), said that there are many factors that influence a child's height development, including genetics, nutrition, living environment, lifestyle, sports, growth hormone...

A genetic study of 400,000 people found 83 genes that strongly influence height. This is an important factor and can change over many generations. For example, if the father is 170 cm tall and the mother is 160 cm tall, in principle, their son will be 171-176 cm tall when he grows up, and the daughter will be 158.5 to 164 cm tall. However, height can depend on nurturing conditions such as nutrition, exercise, etc.

In terms of nutrition, factors that affect height include minerals, calcium, iron, zinc, vitamins A, D, K2, hormones, protein, and collagen. Exercise also helps increase height because it increases bone minerals and bone density. Children who exercise will increase growth hormone secretion, develop the musculoskeletal system, and reduce the risk of chronic diseases. Exercise and rest time should alternate. If children are often sick, use many medications, especially antibiotics, their height will also be limited.

"For children to reach their maximum height, a combination of factors is needed, especially in the first years of life or puberty," said Dr. Son.

Accordingly, puberty is considered the golden time for children to grow taller because the body produces the most growth hormone. When passing this stage and getting older, the amount of growth hormone produced by the body decreases. In addition, before and during puberty, the cartilage at the ends of the bones is often soft, allowing strong bone growth. As we get older, these cartilages will begin to harden and fuse completely together, causing height growth to slow down or stop, unable to grow further.

Hitting the psychology of parents who want to increase their children's height, many advertisements for drugs, milk, functional foods containing growth hormones, calcium... appear everywhere, difficult to verify. "Abusing drugs or functional foods to increase height will be costly, leading to excess nutrients, which can be harmful to health," Mr. Son warned.

Experts recommend that for optimal growth, children need a balanced diet. Protein is an essential nutrient for growth and development. Fat plays an important role in providing energy, increasing vitamin D absorption and thereby increasing calcium absorption. Vegetables and fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals and fiber, which are essential for children to have a healthy diet. Cereals, eggs and milk should be supplemented.

Children should also limit or avoid foods that contain a lot of sugar, trans fat, and saturated fat. Do not arbitrarily supplement functional foods to help increase height.

Physical activities should be age-appropriate and create a fun atmosphere. Parents should remind children to limit sitting in one place. At school, children have been sitting and studying for a long time. When coming home, avoid watching TV, playing video games, playing with phones, electronic devices... For children aged 6-12, it is necessary to limit screen time to less than 2 hours per day.

In addition, sleep also affects height. When sleeping, the body secretes 4 times more hormones than when awake. The hormone level peaks between 10pm and 1am the next day. Therefore, children should go to bed early, between 9pm and 9:30pm.

Measure the child's lying length or standing height. When detecting that the child's height does not reach age-appropriate milestones or that the child's height growth is slow, below 4 cm/year, it is recommended to take the child to a nutritionist for diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible.

In the case of Ms. Lan's child, thanks to early examination before puberty, it was possible to adjust the diet, schedule, supplement the missing micronutrients and minerals based on blood tests as well as evaluate the diet. The doctor gave the formula "5+2" (5 days of exercise, 2 days of sports on the weekend) for the child to increase physical activity.

After one year, the baby grew 12 cm taller, an average of one cm per month. Bone density measurements and future height predictions showed significant improvements. Currently, the child is 117 cm tall, approximately the average height of a 7-year-old girl, which is 120.8 cm.

"If children receive good nutrition, they can reach a maximum height of 1.6 m as adults," said the doctor.