What is the relationship between parenting and children’s health?

To put it bluntly, every choice in parenting will directly or indirectly shape the child's all-dimensional health status from physical to psychological, and will even affect his risk of chronic diseases, mental toughness and social adaptability in adulthood. It is by no means as simple as "feeding the child well and raising him up".

In the five years I have been working as a community child care provider, I have seen too many children with similar congenital conditions. Due to differences in family parenting methods, the health status has gradually widened. For example, last year I met two boys of the same age who were allergic to cow's milk protein. When they were 6 months old, they came for a checkup when they first introduced complementary foods. The allergy indicators, height and weight were almost the same. After a mother went back, she followed the ladder of complementary foods we gave her and started with hypoallergenic rice noodles. Even if the corners of her mouth turned a little red after eating, as long as there was no For severe reactions, I fed her a small amount frequently. I often took my child to touch the grass and chase butterflies on the lawn of the community. When he was less than one year old, he successfully transitioned to regular milk powder. When he was two years old, his allergy indicators were basically normal. He was half a centimeter taller than the median for his age. When he saw the doctor, he would even hand over a small dinosaur toy. Another mother was always afraid that her child would suffer. She did not dare to add anything except deeply hydrolyzed milk powder. She had to wrap herself in two layers of gauze to avoid being blown by the wind when going out. Until she was 10 months old, she only dared to feed pure rice flour. When she came for a physical examination at the age of three, she often suffered from recurring eczema. She was half a head shorter than her peers. She hid in her mother's arms when she saw strangers and could not even speak a few complete sentences.

Nowadays, the controversy about parenting methods on the Internet has never stopped. Some people say that we should raise carefully, and that everything from the nutritional ratio of complementary foods to the guidance of general exercise should adhere to the standards of child development. Others say that we should "free range" and don't put shackles on both our children and ourselves. Children who are raised extensively will be stronger. In fact, both sides of the story are based on reality. I have also seen people who have carefully maintained their care. Parents checked their homes for allergens such as dust mites and molds in advance. They cleaned their children's mouths from an early age. The children rarely suffered from gastrointestinal diseases. There were no cavities in the deciduous teeth until the tooth replacement period. ； But I have also seen overly meticulous practices. Parents quickly spray disinfectant wipes as soon as their children touch the floor, and they have to soak fruits repeatedly for half an hour before giving them to them. As a result, the children have caught colds and fevers every three days since they first entered kindergarten, and they have not adapted very well.

Many parents always think that "health means no fever and no cough." In fact, mental state has a much greater impact on physical health than many people think. Last month, a mother brought her 7-year-old son here. She said that the child kept squeezing his eyes and shrugging his shoulders. He went to several ophthalmologists but no problem was found. After chatting for a long time, he found out that the family had enrolled the child in four extracurricular classes in the past six months. The father had a bad temper and scolded the child if he was slow in writing homework. The couple never avoided the child when they quarreled. The child's nerves were tense for a long time, which is why the child had twitching physical reactions. Later, we suggested that parents reduce the number of interest classes to those that their children really like, and focus less on the correctness of homework and take him to the park to run and ride bikes. Within two months, my mother sent a message saying that the child’s symptoms of winking had basically disappeared, and even eating was much better than before.

To be honest, parenting is like taking care of a nursery for a young sapling that has just emerged. Whether you water it every day or provide water as needed, whether you keep it under a shade cloth or slowly let it adapt to the sun and wind, will directly affect whether the tree can grow strong and whether it can withstand the wind and rain later. There is no universal standard answer. How much attention you are willing to put into observing your child's real needs instead of following the online standards will give you the most direct feedback on your child's health status.