Hello everyone, I am Ruan Guangfeng, a Master of Nutrition and Food Safety from China Agricultural University, and a nutritionist at the same time. In addition, I am a member of the expert group of the China Food Counterfeit Alliance and have won the “Top Ten Nutrition and Health Creators” award issued by today’s headlines for three consecutive years.
Nowadays, parents all hope their children can have a [height advantage] when they grow up. Children must keep up with their nutrition, so milk has become the choice of many parents, because everyone says that drinking milk can make children grow taller.
When chatting with a parent in the community, one parent said that his daughter was four years old this year and is now 94 cm tall. The parents were worried and hoped that he would grow tall in the future. For this [dream], the parents said that they would prepare three cups of milk for her every day.
However, is drinking milk a magic weapon for growing taller? Does drinking milk really make children grow taller? Today we will talk about milk and height.
What Factors Affect Height
Genes
Genes are the most important determinant of a person’s physical condition, and also determine the basic height of children, that is, [foundation]. This is obvious. For this reason, Yao Ming’s children are definitely taller than most of us.
Nutrition
Balanced and sufficient nutrition is the basis of growth and development. Nutrients are just like sand and gravel in Gai Lou. How can we talk about the shortage of raw materials? However, to grow taller, one does not only need these two kinds of nutrition, but also needs various and balanced nutrition. According to the recommendation of the children’s balanced diet pagoda in our country, the diet needs to be matched with thick and thin, meat and vegetable, and not picky about food. Eat less desserts, drinks, snacks, etc.
Sports
Reasonable exercise can stimulate the secretion of growth hormone, promote the formation and development of bones, and maximize the genetic potential. Exercise will also make bone growth density high and become more solid and strong.
Does Milk Make Children Taller
First of all, we must understand that genes are always the ones that have the greatest impact on height.
For example, it is impossible for us ordinary people to drink milk every day higher than Yao Ming. Secondly, whether we are tall or not requires balanced nutrition, not a certain kind of food or a certain kind of nutrition, so we cannot simply say that drinking milk can make people grow taller.
However, milk is a food with high nutritional value. Milk is rich in calcium and vitamin D, which is an important raw material for human bone growth. Vitamin D can promote calcium absorption. Drinking milk is also good for height and bone health.
Many years of research at home and abroad have shown that insisting on drinking a proper amount of milk every day can not only promote the physical development of children and adolescents, but also make their bones denser and reduce the risk of fracture in the future.
For example, an American study conducted a survey of children aged 4-5 years old and found that milk intake was positively correlated with height. Data from 1999 to 2002 in the United States show that milk intake is positively correlated with height. A cohort study of more than 5,000 girls found a positive correlation between milk consumption and height.
Considering the family that often drinks milk, the general economic conditions are relatively good, and the diet is relatively healthy. Therefore, it can be considered that drinking milk every day is good for children’s growth and bone health. China’s dietary guidelines also recommend children to drink milk every day.
How much milk do you drink every day
However, we also do not recommend people to drink milk as water. The more milk you drink, the taller your child will grow.
In fact, water is an important porter in the human body. It plays a role in transporting nutrients and metabolizing wastes in the body. Although there is water in milk, it is not the best choice to replenish water. Plain boiled water is the best choice.
Besides, there is still a lot of fat in milk (especially whole milk). If you drink milk as water, you will drink a lot of fat, which is also bad for your health.
Some studies have found that drinking too much milk increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and prostate cancer.
Moreover, if you drink too much milk, it will definitely take up the volume of gastrointestinal tract, and the child’s appetite itself is limited, which will cause you to eat less other foods, which will affect the absorption of other nutrients and is not conducive to obtaining comprehensive and balanced nutrition.
China’s dietary guidelines recommend children to drink 300-400 milliliters of milk. For us ordinary people, this is equivalent to drinking 1-2 cups of milk every day.
Can calcium supplement make children grow taller
Many people think that drinking milk is good for growing taller because milk contains calcium, so they take it for granted that supplementing calcium can make children grow taller.
However, this idea is too taken for granted. Although the intake of dairy products is good for the healthy growth and development of children and bones, and is also positively related to the height of teenagers. However, calcium supplement (calcium supplement) has no such result.
In 2006, Australian researchers analyzed 19 experiments on the effect of calcium supplement on children’s height and weight. After comparing the relevant data of 2,859 children, they came to the conclusion that daily calcium supplement has little effect on children’s bones, even if it may exist.
Perhaps it is because people who consume more dairy products tend to pay more attention to a balanced diet and have better economic and living conditions, so their overall nutritional status will be better. Moreover, the nutrition of milk is more comprehensive than direct calcium supplement.
Therefore, don’t blindly give your child calcium tablets for the sake of growing taller.
-References-
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[11] Dietary Guidelines for Chinese Residents. 2016.
Editor KK