Recently, many friends have asked that some sports will not make children grow taller. You see, ballerinas and weightlifters are generally not tall, while basketball and swimmers are both tall (Yao Ming is 2.26m, Yi Jianlian is 2.13m, Sun Yang is 2m ...). Do you need to choose the appropriate sports type to make your children grow taller?
In fact, the dispute between exercise and height has a long history. Not only dancing, but also football, gymnastics, weightlifting, wrestling, long-distance running and other sports are often suspected of affecting height.
"Weightlifting hinders height" may be a view that many people agree with. In 1970s, Japanese researchers found that most child laborers were short and below average. At that time, the researchers concluded that physical activities such as lifting weights all day would affect the height of children. But later scientists discovered that the real reason behind the short stature of Japanese child laborers was malnutrition. Child workers work long hours every day, earn little money and can't get enough nutritious food.
In fact, so far, there is not enough scientific evidence to explain whether resistance training such as weightlifting will affect height. However, some recent studies have found that weightlifting in childhood helps to strengthen bones, reduce the risk of obesity in children and adults, and may even help prevent osteoporosis in the elderly.
Epiphyseal injury is the main reason why people worry that resistance training will affect their height. The epiphyseal plate, also called growth plate, is a transparent cartilage tissue located between the epiphyseal end and the metaphyseal end. Epiphyseal plate is the softest and weakest part of bone, and sometimes it is even weaker than ligament and tendon. Some injuries that lead to joint sprains may lead to epiphyseal fractures in children. If handled properly, most epiphyseal fractures can be completely healed without any sequelae. However, if it is not handled properly, it may lead to bone bending and deformation or shorter than the corresponding other limb.
The existing evidence shows that moderate-intensity resistance training and professional guidance are safe for children in the short term. As for the long-term safety, some literatures have concluded that it is safe to carry out resistance training before epiphyseal closure, but there is no data on the long-term influence of weightlifting on children's height.
Sports tend to choose themselves.
"Can playing basketball help you grow taller?"
"Will swimming make children grow taller?"
Unlike weightlifting, it is generally believed that playing basketball and swimming can help you grow taller, because professional basketball players and swimmers are both very tall, such as Yao Ming 2.26 meters, Yi Jianlian 2. 13 meters and Sun Yang 2 meters. ...
But in fact, it is not necessarily playing basketball and swimming that help them grow taller. It is more likely that they are taller, have inherent advantages in the field and stand out more easily. The results show that swimming, basketball, tennis and other sports have not helped athletes break through the genetic restrictions. Like many other non-athletes, they have reached the genetically determined height limit.
In addition, playing basketball is also a high-intensity sport. If you are worried that weightlifting may affect your height, you also need to worry about playing basketball ... Every time you jump, the human body is equivalent to adding several times your weight to your muscles and bones, which may be much greater than the weight that children bear when practicing weightlifting.
The principle of self-selection in sports also applies to gymnasts. Gymnasts are generally shorter. On the one hand, gymnastics coaches may take the initiative to select short children for training; On the other hand, the advantages of short athletes in gymnastics also allow them to continue to engage in this sport. Li, the wife of * * * and Ollie's mother, once mentioned in the program that she practiced gymnastics when she was a child, but later she stopped because she was too tall.
Of course, the relationship between gymnastics and height may be more than that. The research on female gymnasts found that when they were young, their height increased slowly, especially their legs. Female athletes who started gymnastics earlier are more likely to have delayed bone age. But after retiring, they can still catch up with their height. As long as you retire early, you can still give full play to your growth potential and reach the highest level determined by genes within eight years after retirement. However, the study also found that male gymnasts seem to be different. They did not show delayed bone age or different growth patterns during the whole training process. Even if you don't retire, you will eventually grow to a height determined by genes.
Physical exercise and nutrition intake
Regarding the relationship between exercise and height, nutrition may play an important role behind it. For example, some ballerinas may have to train for at least five hours every day and have strict food energy control. Before puberty, the average height of ballet dancers is lower than that of non-ballet dancers. In sports, the body mass index of ballet dancers and long-distance runners is almost the lowest. Due to extreme calorie restriction and high energy consumption, many ballerinas will have delayed growth and menstruation. But after puberty, ballerinas can generally grow to the highest height determined by heredity. However, due to restrictive diet, their bone density may be adversely affected.
Wrestlers often get the qualification of low-weight players through unhealthy weight loss methods (relatively few competitions). According to the training intensity and nutritional status, the height of wrestlers is affected to some extent. According to foreign research results, wrestlers who participated in high school leagues were shorter than their classmates, and their weight and body fat dropped significantly last season (the result of unhealthy weight loss).
Based on the existing evidence, gene is the strongest factor to determine height, accounting for 60% ~ 80% of all factors. After a child is born, regardless of height and weight, it is largely influenced by diet. A balanced diet suitable for children's age, including reasonable intake of carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals, can affect children's growth.
Ultra-high intensity, unscientific, and inconsistent with children's growth laws may cause harm to children or affect their height, but appropriate physical exercise should be encouraged. They can help children form healthy musculoskeletal tissues (i.e. bones, muscles and joints), establish a healthy cardiovascular system, develop good coordination ability, maintain a healthy weight and improve their control over anxiety and depression.
According to the recommendation of the World Health Organization, all healthy children and adolescents aged 5- 17 should take at least 60 minutes of moderate and high-intensity physical exercise every day. You don't need to exercise continuously for 60 minutes, but you can add it up, for example, for 30 minutes at a time and do it twice. Most of these exercises are best aerobic exercise. At the same time, do high-intensity physical activities at least three times a week, including strengthening muscles and bones. For younger children, it is also a good choice to integrate physical exercise into games (such as throwing handkerchiefs, trying to catch chickens and jumping off buildings).
High intensity exercise
Sweating feels "out of breath" and you can hardly talk to people during exercise, including running and swimming.
Moderate intensity exercise
Sweat and breathe faster, but you can talk to people at the same time, including walking fast and riding a bike.
Strong muscle and bone movements
Skipping rope, running, tennis, basketball, etc.