Answer:

A 10-year-old boy who is 132 cm tall and weighs 33 kg has a BMI of 18,94, indicating a normal physique without signs of malnutrition, overweight, or obesity. However, compared to global growth standards for his age (137,8 cm), your son's height falls into the lower-average group. Nevertheless, this is still the pre-puberty stage, and children can still grow an additional 5-7 cm each year. It is too early to conclude that the child has stunted growth or developmental delay.

Many parents give their children excessive milk with the hope of rapid height improvement. Milk provides calcium, protein, vitamins, and essential minerals that support musculoskeletal development, but it is not the sole determinant of a child's height. Height is influenced by many factors, including genetics, overall nutrition, sleep, physical activity, and living environment.

The body's milk requirements vary at different ages. Drinking too much milk can be counterproductive, leading to nutritional imbalance and, in the long term, affecting absorption and metabolism. In some cases, it can also increase the risk of being overweight or obese. Your son, in the 10-19 age group, can drink about ba glasses of milk daily, distributed evenly across breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Drinking milk before bedtime will maximize calcium absorption, helping children grow significantly.

Parents must prioritize nutrition, physical activity, and daily routines for their children to achieve ideal height. The daily diet should ensure a balance of carbohydrates, fats, protein, vitamins, and other minerals. Among these, calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D3, zinc, manganese, and DHA are essential nutrients for height development. Children should eat ba main meals a day, with an additional hai to ba snacks when highly active. They should limit fast food, processed foods, greasy items, and sugary carbonated drinks.

Physical activity stimulates the body to secrete growth hormone. Children should dedicate about 30-60 minutes daily to running, pull-ups, jumping rope, swimming, basketball, volleyball, or cycling to build endurance and develop their bones and muscles. If physical activity is excessive, children may experience fatigue and exhaustion.

Sleep also directly influences physical development. nighttime deep sleep is the "golden time" for the pituitary gland to produce growth hormone most effectively. Therefore, children should go to bed early, before 22h, and get 8-10 continuous hours of sleep daily.

Parents should take their children for regular nutritional check-ups to assess their physical condition and nutritional needs. Through methods such as body composition analysis using an InBody 770 machine and micronutrient testing using ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC) technology, doctors can detect nutrient deficiencies or excesses. From there, doctors can develop suitable diets that support optimal height development for children, rather than just increasing daily milk intake.

Master, Doctor Nguyen Anh Duy Tung

Nutrition - Dietetics Specialist

Tam Anh General Clinic District 7