Nutritional mistakes can cause children to grow slowly.

KNot breastfeeding, introducing solid foods too early or too late, overfeeding or underfeeding with protein... all can cause children to experience delayed development and short stature.

Associate Professor Le Danh Tuyen, Director of the National Institute of Nutrition, points out several mistakes in childcare that slow down children's height growth:

Do not breastfeed.

Breast milk offers many benefits for babies, but not all mothers are aware of and practice it. Factors influencing exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months often include mothers returning to work early, believing their own milk is not as good as formula, preferring imported formula, and wanting to maintain their figure. Additionally, some mothers don't know how to breastfeed correctly and protect their milk supply.

Introducing complementary foods too early or too late.

Complementary feeding refers to the addition of other foods to a child's diet besides breast milk. According to the World Health Organization's recommendations, complementary feeding (weaning) should begin when a child is 6 months old.

Many mothers now believe that introducing complementary foods early will make their babies stronger and prevent hunger. Therefore, babies are given complementary foods from the 4th or 5th month, and some even from the 3rd month. This affects the utilization of breast milk, making babies more prone to digestive disorders and leading to malnutrition.

Numerous studies have shown that a child's height development depends 20% on genetics, while nutrition and environment account for 80%. Photo: BD.

Some mothers in rural and remote areas still feed their children chewed or pre-chewed rice, which is very unhygienic and can even be a source of disease transmission to children.

Conversely, if complementary feeding is delayed, and breast milk is insufficient to meet the baby's needs, the baby will gain weight slowly. Since breast milk after 6 months cannot meet the baby's increasing nutritional needs, complementary foods are necessary. In addition to breastfeeding, babies need 1-2 meals of solid food per day.

Caring for and nurturing sick children.

Caring for and nurturing children before, during, and after illness is crucial because it helps them recover faster, regain their health, and strengthen their immune system against disease.

When children are sick with conditions like fever and diarrhea, their energy and nutrient needs are higher than usual. However, some mothers mistakenly believe that children should be put on restrictive diets, such as avoiding oil or fat, only giving them sweet porridge (porridge cooked with sugar), withholding breast milk, or not giving them green vegetables, fearing it will worsen diarrhea. They also worry that children with fever may become dehydrated, but they don't rehydrate them or give them oral rehydration solution (ORS).

After children recover from illness, many mothers don't feed them more so that they can quickly regain their health; restrictive diets and unbalanced meals lacking sufficient nutrients can easily lead to malnutrition.

Feeding children too much nutritious food.

A child's supplementary meals must ensure sufficient essential nutrients, meet their needs, and be balanced to support healthy development. However, if the diet is too high in protein, it can overwork the immature digestive system, leading to digestive disorders such as undigested food in stool and diarrhea.

Meat broth and bone broth are nutritious enough.

These broths contain almost no protein, so consuming only the broth and not the solids is not as nutritious as many mothers believe.

Furthermore, protein sources are still often limited in variety. Many mothers avoid giving their children fish, crab, shrimp, eggs, etc., fearing food allergies or aversions to the taste. This can easily lead to a lack of appetite and create unbalanced eating habits that are difficult to change later on.

Providing "compensatory" care for children as they grow older.

Due to the impact of modern lifestyles, parents often lack the opportunity to care for their children from a young age, believing that they can "make up" for it later when their children grow up. This is a completely wrong perspective, still prevalent among many parents, especially young families.

Science has proven that malnutrition during critical stages of human development – ​​before and during pregnancy, and in the first two years of a child's life – programs each individual's growth regulation and affects brain development.

According to VNE