Did you know that 60% of your child’s height is achieved in the first 5 years of your child’s life1?
That’s more than half their height! In Malaysia, 1 in 6 children below 5 years old are stunted2.
This is why it is important for you to keep track of your child’s growth and ensure that they get everything they need so they grow to the best of their potential.
So, what do they need to grow to their fullest potential? We’ve listed down some of the top secrets to optimal growth in children below.
Adequate Sleep
One of the important aspects that parents neglect is children’s sleeping pattern.
Sleep is especially important for children as it directly impacts mental and physical development3.
According to the National Sleep Foundation report4:
- Toddlers (1-2 years): Should get 11-14 hours of sleep.
- Preschoolers (3-5): Sleep range is about 10-13 hours a day.
- School age children (6-13): 9-11 hours daily.
Related Article: Top 5 Foods That Can Help Your Child Grow Taller
Good Hygiene Habits
It isn’t easy to prevent young children from using their hands to wipe their noses or rub their eyes and then handle toys or touch other children, but what we can do is teach them good hygiene habits by washing their hands throughout the day. It’s important for them to wash their hands especially:
- Before and after handling food.
- After using the toilet.
- After playing- especially when toys are shared.
- After handling a pet or other animal.
Do explain to your child about the importance of washing hands and keeping good hygiene. When they understand it, they’re more likely to adhere and remember it.
Physical Activity
Encourage your child to get active by running, dancing, biking or other various physical activities.
Keeping active helps in their development and physical growth.
So get them off their screens and into the outdoors for fun physical activities.
Complete & Balanced Nutrition
A complete and balanced nutrition during these first few years is important for your child to achieve optimal height.
Research also shows that a whopping 80% of a child’s growth is based on their nutritional intake during these first 5 years and only 20% is contributed from genetics5.
If you are worried that your child is having growth issues, try providing them with 2 servings of PediaSure a day, now added with arginine, Natural Vitamin K2 & 25 key nutrients to support their overall growth and development.
You’ll notice visible growth as soon as 8 weeks6,7.
To find out if your child is on the right track to achieving his/her optimal adult height, head on to https://pediasure.com.my/watchMeGrow/height-predictor and discover your child’s adult height potential.
References:
1 WHO Growth Standard, 2007
2 Full report of IMFeD Nationwide Growth Screening exercise between April-July 2019 among 17,575 children between 1-5 years old.
3 https://www.sleepfoundation.org/articles/children-and-sleep
4 https://www.sleepfoundation.org/press-release/national-sleep-foundation-recommends-new-sleep-times
5 Jelenkovic, A. et al. Genetic and environmental influences on height from infancy to early adulthood: An individual-based pooled analysis of 45 twin cohorts. Sci. Rep. 6, 28496; doi: 10. 1038/srep28496 (2016)
6 Huynh DTT et al. J Hum Nutr Diet (2015), 28, 623-635. Longitudinal growth and health outcomes in nutritionally at-risk children who received long-term nutritional intervention.
7 Huynh DTT et al. Jr of Nutr Sci.2016;5(20). Impact of long-term use of oral nutritional supplement on nutritional adequacy, dietary diversity, food intake and growth of Filipino preschool children.
