If parents are short, can their children grow taller?

Many parents are not very tall. In this case, it is more likely that their children will not be very tall due to genetics. So at this time parents will worry that their children may not be very tall. In fact, in addition to genetic factors, there are also acquired factors that affect children's height. So can children whose parents are short grow taller? Let us introduce it in detail below.

Parents are all very concerned about their children's height, especially those who are not very tall themselves. They are even more worried that their children will not grow tall due to genetics and hope to do their best to help their children grow taller. Zhu Shunye, deputy chief physician of the Pediatric Endocrinology Department of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, said that a person's height is determined by both congenital and acquired factors, with genetics playing a 70% role. In general, the height of the parents will affect the child's adult height. Acquired factors such as nutrition, exercise, sleep, and living environment will also affect the child's height development. If the parents are short in height and their children are born with congenital deficiencies, parents should work on the acquired factors.

How to tell if your child is growing slowly

How to determine whether a child is growing slowly? Director Zhu said that the normal growth process of a child is: about 50 cm at birth, the annual height increase will be 24-25 cm within 1 year old; 10-12 cm between 1-2 years old; 8-10 cm between 2-3 years old; after 3 years old to the early stage of puberty, the annual growth rate is about 5-8 cm. Parents can determine whether their child is growing slowly through the following situations: the child ranks in the bottom 3 in height among 100 children of the same age and gender; the annual growth rate is less than 4 cm after the age of 2; or the height can be calculated according to the formula: height = age × 7 + 70 (cm).

If you find that your child's height growth is slow, you should seek medical attention immediately. Professional medical staff will conduct physical examinations, bone age determination, and necessary endocrine function tests on the baby. Some children also need genetic analysis and imaging (B-ultrasound, MRI) examinations to clarify the cause of short stature. If it is idiopathic short stature, growth hormone treatment can be used.

There are other factors that affect a child's height, so even if the parents are not very tall, the child may still grow tall. However, this requires that children be given more nutritional supplements in the future, and that they be allowed to do more physical exercise, so that their height will not be affected by their parents and they can grow taller.