Follow these tips to help your teen catch up on their growth and development

Parenting is an interesting journey. You’re a parent from the day you discover your pregnancy to the rest of your life. It’s ever-changing and at each stage of your child’s life, you focus on different things. Parents often think a lot more about growth and development more when their children are younger. But did you know that your child’s adolescent growth spurt is the final window of growth and the last chance for your teen to grow taller.

If you’re wondering why this is a significant concern, did you know that Malaysian teens are up to 6cm shorter than teens around the world¹?

This is based on comparison with average height the World Health Organization (WHO), so there is opportunity to help our Malaysian teens grow taller. Why is this happening? Nutrition plays a huge role – Teens require 2x or more² key growth nutrients for growth. However, unhealthy food choices and skipping meals can lead to an unbalanced diet and reduced intake of essential nutrients causing them to be at risk of stunting³.

But don’t fret, thankfully, teens go through a 2^nd growth spurt between the ages of 10 and 15 years, where they have a last chance to achieve their full growth potential, with the support of complete and balanced nutrition. By following some of these tips, you can help your teen catch up on the last chance for growth!

Teens often forget that at their age, they still require a good 8 to 10 hours of sleep per night. Some of our mum readers lament about their teens staying up late at night finishing their many assignments. Others complain about, well, you know – the late-night phone calls, using devices to stay up late.

But you see, sleep helps to regulate their hormones, which in turns impacts their growth and development. Insufficient sleep can adversely affect their physical development and even their metabolic development⁴.

Remember, this is a period of tremendous physical changes for your child. In fact, up to 20% of adult height can be achieved during this period⁵. As this sets the stage for adulthood, it is the final window of opportunity to influence growth and development.

So, parents, talk to your teens about the importance of sleep and work with them to set a realistic sleep schedule.

We all know that mental health and wellness has a huge impact on our physical health. This is especially so for teenagers who are dealing with huge emotional changes during their adolescent years. It’s tough business being a teen, really - tasting independence, finding their identity and friends, puberty, and so much more.

Parents, it’s just as difficult for you too. Suddenly, your lovely, adorable child is now a hot and cold, unexplainably grumpy teen who disappears into his or her cocoon and then there’s radio silence for hours. We feel you. There’s only one way around this problem – building a positive relationship with your teen.

To achieve this, you need to spend a lot of time talking, the resilience of a warrior and the patience of a saint. Show interest in his or life apart from school and ask questions without coming across as interrogating. If your teen doesn’t fear judgment from you, it’s more likely that you will have open communication. Remember, they can get sensitive at this stage so respect their opinions and continue to show affection even when it gets hard⁶. This will go a long way in helping your teen’s mental health and wellness.

Having said that, don’t forget about physical health as well. Encourage your teen to sleep sufficiently and get at least an hour of daily physical activity. Remember to set healthy boundaries and limit screen time for your teen. Impossible as it may sound, with a lot of consistency and determination, it can be achieved!

One of the leading causes for teens’ growth stunting is unhealthy eating habits. Did you know that 7 in 10 teens skip breakfast regularly⁷? In addition, general unhealthy food choices such as choosing processed food over fresh food and skipping meals lead to an unbalanced diet and reduced intake of essential nutrients.

Parents, we know that it’s hard to control your teen’s diet. It’s not like the good old days when they were young, and you could pack lunchboxes and have full control over their diets. But remember, this is the last window of opportunity for your teen to catch up on growth, so nutrition is of paramount importance.

Eating a well-balanced diet comprising of carbohydrates, proteins, dairy, fruits and vegetables will help your child to achieve his or her full potential in developing healthy bones and muscles, and to stay in the healthy weight range⁸.

But sometimes, try as you might, it’s next to impossible to get your teen to eat a fully balanced diet. They may miss out on certain important nutrients that could hinder them from getting the most of this last window of growth. So, what do you do to help your teen?

Available in both vanilla and chocolate flavours, PediaSure® 10+ for teens is your delicious and nutritious solution. It may be difficult to get your teen to eat some or all of what you want them to. But it isn’t that hard to offer them a drink they are likely to love. It’s easy to incorporate PediaSure® 10+ into your teen’s daily diet. Use it to fuel them either before or after sports or even as a quick post-school snack! It’s tasty, nutritious, and your teen is sure to love it!

PediaSure® 10+ is the first complete, balanced nutrition in Malaysia that is scientifically designed for teens aged 10 years and above to catch up on growth. Formulated with a Triple Growth System and 2 times or more growth nutrients (as compared to Pediasure for 1-10 years old) for height, energy and support for the immune function, it’s a great way to fuel your teen’s final growth spurt. It also contains Arginine, Vitamin K2 and calcium for long and strong bone growth⁹. Don’t miss out on the last chance to help your teen catch up on growth!

Mums and Dads, we hope that you find these tips useful. Remember, adolescent growth spurt is the final window of opportunity for growth development and catch-up growth for your teen. Forming healthy lifestyle habits, addressing undernutrition and ensuring that your teen gets adequate nutrition intake will help him or her to reach their full growth potential before this golden window closes!

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Reference:

¹ NCD-RisC(2020), Lancet 396: 1511-24
² RNI Malaysia, 2017.
³ NHMS Adolescent Nutrition Survey, 2017.
⁴ https://www.sleepfoundation.org/teens-and-sleep
⁵ Campisi et al, 2018.
⁶ https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/childdevelopment/positiveparenting/adolescence2.html
⁷ https://headtopics.com/my/poor-dietary-habits-lack-of-physical-activities-among-teens-study-finds-24483572
⁸ https://www.healthhub.sg/live-healthy/1147/dont-let-baby-fat-follow-you-to-adulthood
⁹ Jiang MY et al, 2011 & Schurgers LJ et al, 2007.