Want Your Child to Grow Taller? Avoid These Things Before Bed

Adequate sleep is crucial for the growth and development of children. In simple terms, this means having sufficient sleep duration and high sleep quality, and many parents have put in a lot of effort for this.

If you are also hoping for your child to grow tall quickly, please pay attention to these 5 things and don’t let them interfere with your child’s sleep.

 There is no need to take health supplements with insufficient scientific basis

Don’t let your child stay up late just because they have taken “growth-promoting” health supplements.

Many parents, because their children cannot sleep well after going to bed or refuse to sleep on time, have bought various “growth-promoting” health supplements, such as gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and lysine. They hope to promote the secretion of growth hormones with these products, which is a superficial approach.

Let’s start with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA).
There is indeed research suggesting that gamma-aminobutyric acid may promote deep sleep and growth hormone secretion by regulating pituitary function, thereby potentially affecting children’s height development.

However, these conclusions are mainly derived from “animal models” and “in vitro experiments”.
There is currently no direct scientific evidence that supplementing with gamma-aminobutyric acid can significantly promote children’s height increase.

Now let’s talk about lysine.
It is indeed an essential amino acid that is beneficial to bone growth and development.

However, its daily requirement is relatively limited, which can be met through a balanced diet. Moreover, bone growth and development is a complex process involving multiple systems and the synergistic action of multiple nutrients, requiring the synergistic action of various nutrients, not just relying on a single nutrient.

Further reading:

Do children need to supplement with lysine to grow taller? It’s better to eat one every day…

Children are going to bed later and later, afraid of falling behind in height, is taking ‘gamma-aminobutyric acid’ useful?

Try not to watch TV, smartphones, computers, or tablets 1 hour before bed

The reason why children have difficulty falling asleep after going to bed might be due to playing with their smartphones or watching TV.

The blue light emitted by electronic screens can suppress the secretion of melatonin. Melatonin is a hormone that helps us fall asleep. Exposure to blue light from screens before bed can be received by photosensitive cells in the eyes, which may lead the brain to “misunderstand”, thereby suppressing melatonin secretion and causing delayed sleep onset and difficulty falling asleep.

Moreover, there is a clear dose-response relationship between children’s screen exposure time and sleep problems—the longer the usage time, the more significant the decline in sleep quality.

For older children, if they are addicted to games and videos, their sleep time is more likely to be encroached upon.

Initially, you can start with small goals such as “staying away from electronic devices 20-30 minutes before bed” and switch to low-stimulus activities such as reading or writing a diary, gradually transitioning to a sleep state. When children feel the improvement in sleep quality and an increase in daytime energy, they will be more motivated to change their pre-sleep habits and extend to staying away from electronic devices one hour before bed.

Try to avoid consuming high-fat, high-sugar foods before bed

If your child always has trouble sleeping or wakes up in the middle of the night after having a late-night snack, be vigilant about these “sleep thieves”.

Many late-night snacks that are irresistible to children and adults, such as desserts, barbecue, instant noodles, high-sugar cereals, and filled bread (filled with sugar and oil), are all high in fat and sugar.

Studies have indicated that a series of physiological changes caused byhigh-fat diet before bed may lead to changes in brain waves, with a decrease in the power of waves related to deep sleep and an increase in wave activity related to wakefulness, thus reducing sleep quality.

And consuming too much sugar before bed, causing a rapid increase in blood sugar, may lead to an extension of the rapid eye movement sleep period, which is equivalent to releasing a “physiological abnormal signal”, making us more sensitive to external disturbances, and more likely to wake up from sleep.

However, it is quite common to feel hungry or crave a snack before bed. We can opt for an additional meal of fruit, a cup of dairy products (milk, yogurt), or a small handful of nuts. It is best not to wait until the late-night snack time to communicate with your child, as resistance may be strong.

Avoid excessive exercise 2 hours before bed

Unreasonable exercise scheduling at night is just digging a hole for sleep.

There are some unreliable but popular “growth-promoting exercise strategies” online, scheduling children to jump and touch high or skip rope before bed. This level of exercise is enough to raise the child’s core body temperature and increase adrenaline secretion, putting the body in a very excited state.

If the child cannot find time to exercise during the day, it is recommended to schedule the exercise time after school and keep a gap of 3-4 hours with sleep time, allowing the body enough time to recover. If the child has a lot of homework, exercise can be done after school, followed by dinner and homework, to avoid going to bed directly after exercise.

Kudos to parents who persist in arranging exercise time for their children. Moderate exercise can release energy and stress and has a positive effect on sleep.

There is no need to arrange your schedule according to the “peak times of growth hormone secretion”

Do not pay attention to this rumor, even if it is persistent.

Growth hormone is not only secreted during “10 PM to 2 AM” and “5-7 AM”, but is secreted continuously in a pulsatile manner around the clock.

After the child enters deep sleep, there will be a significant peak in growth hormone secretion. For children who go to bed early and wake up early, the peak of secretion may be around 10 PM; for children who go to bed late and wake up late, the peak of secretion may be delayed to 11 PM or 12 AM.
As long as the child has sufficient total sleep time and high sleep quality, the secretion of growth hormone will not be affected.

Therefore, it is key to ensure that the child sleeps soundly and steadily.