As a Chicago Chiropractor I believe in the benefits of pediatric chiropractor. It’s a great idea to give children the very best foundation we can for their mind and body. After all, growing into adulthood is difficult at its best, without health issues to contend with. I meet a lot of parents who, among their other parental worries, are concerned about the height of their children, that is to say, if their children are short. I’ve been asked if chiropractic adjustments can help a child to grow taller. Well, the answer is both “yes” and “no,” depending on the reason for the child’s short stature. But, whether or not there’s a corrective solution, parents of short children should stop worrying. Here’s why:
A new study shows that short children are no more likely to be depressed, unpopular with their classmates, or have other social and emotional problems than their taller peers. Good news concerned parents! Apparently, the “traumas and dramas” of childhood happen to children of all shapes and sizes.
The study, published in Pediatrics, analyzed data on 712 sixth-graders. Twenty-eight children were classified as having short stature, i.e., they were below the 10th percentile on a growth chart; the remaining children were non-short stature (10th percentile and up). Average height was considered between 25th and 75th percentiles.
The social and emotional well-being of the study group was measured through a number of questionnaires answered by their teachers and the children, themselves. Short children reported slightly higher levels of being victimized or teased by their peers, but there was no difference on other measures of depression, behavioral problems, or popularity.
As soon as a baby is born, pediatricians start monitoring that child’s height and weight by percentile. Although low numbers may create anxiety in parents, that anxiety is likely unwarranted, the researchers write. The short children in the study “reported marginally higher levels of peer victimization … this was not associated with poorer adaptation,” said Joyce Lee, MD, MPH with the department of pediatrics at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues.
So, listen up parents of short children because the researchers concluded that short children may interpret the everyday teasing as more significant because their parents “verbalize concerns about their child’s height and its possible negative impact on social functioning.” The best thing that any parent can do for their children is to encourage them to feel confident and secure about themselves and to measure their “growth” from the inside out.