Essential Tips to Boost Your Child’s Growth in Height and Weight

Monitoring children's weight and height from birth is essential to prevent stunted growth. It is recommended that children under one year of age have their height and weight measured monthly, as they experience rapid growth during this period. On the other hand, children who are one year old usually triple their birth weight. However, some children may not gain weight and height in proportion to their age.

According to the "Health" website, here are the most important tips to increase the weight and height of a child whose growth is not aligned with their age:

Identify the Cause

Mothers can consult pediatricians directly – image from Freepik

The first thing to do once you notice that your child's height and weight are not appropriate is to find out why. Mothers can consult pediatricians to check if their child has any disorders or health conditions that hinder their growth and development, and conduct necessary tests and analyses. You should also talk to your doctor if your child is taking certain medications, as some drugs can affect a child’s weight and height gain.

You might want to learn about the importance of monitoring your child's growth milestones at different ages—know and manage them accordingly.

Pay Attention to Your Child’s Nutrition

Mothers need to focus on their child's nutrition and improve their eating habits. Ensure your child receives high-quality animal protein, fats, and vitamin D.

Make sure that one-third of your child's plate consists of protein sources such as fish and other seafood, beef, poultry, tofu, and nuts.

Let your child eat fatty foods, especially those containing good fats. Parents can also spread peanut butter on bread and give yogurt or avocado as snacks.

Give your child high-calorie foods such as cheese, eggs, meat, or fried chicken.

Instead of water, you can prepare soup with milk or cream to increase the calories your child consumes.

Serve at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily.

If you want to increase your child's weight, it doesn’t mean offering all types of food. Avoid high-calorie, unhealthy foods such as sugary drinks, sweets, or cakes, as these have little nutritional value.

Exercise and Physical Activity

After ensuring your child is well-nourished, increase their activity levels. Regular exercise helps strengthen muscles and bones and increases the production of growth hormone, which directly affects height.

Young children need at least 60 minutes of active play daily, while preschool children require at least 120 minutes daily. Effective sports for increasing height include swimming, basketball, and skipping rope.

Giving Milk

One way to increase your child's height and weight is by providing milk, as it contains many nutrients needed to improve growth. Milk contains protein, magnesium, zinc, fats, and many other important minerals.

Choose milk that has high-quality protein and essential amino acids.

Adequate Sleep

Ensure your child gets enough sleep—image from Freepik.

Adequate daily sleep also promotes faster growth. Growth hormone (HGH), which affects height increase, works best during sleep.

Therefore, make sure your child gets enough sleep during their growth period. Ideally, children aged 1-2 years need 11-14 hours of sleep per day, including 1-2 hours of naps.

Regular Sunbaths

Make sunbathing every morning for 15-20 minutes between 8:00 and 10:00 AM a routine to help children grow faster. Don’t forget to apply sunscreen to protect your child’s skin from ultraviolet rays.

Sunlight plays an important role in producing vitamin D, which supports bone formation. Vitamin D also helps the body absorb calcium from food, making the growth process more effective.

Stretching Exercises

Stretching exercises may seem simple, but they significantly support physical growth in children and help increase their height by elongating their spine.

Ask your child to sit on the floor with their legs stretched wide apart and help them reach their toes with both hands. You can do this exercise gradually according to your child’s ability.