What is the difference between parenting and child health?

The core difference is that the scope and direction of the two are completely different - parenting is the sum of the whole-scenario parenting behaviors that run through a child from birth to adulthood, ranging from feeding and dressing, putting him to sleep and playing with him, to developing habits and shaping three views. All decisions and actions related to raising children are included in the category of parenting.； Children's health is the core bottom-line goal that must be adhered to in the parenting process. It is also an independent cross-professional field. According to WHO standards, it covers the three dimensions of physical health, mental health, and social adaptability. It specializes in the study of children's growth and development patterns and scientific intervention methods from the fetal stage to adolescence.

Oh, by the way, when I usually provide community parenting guidance, I often encounter parents who confuse these two concepts. For example, last week in the group chat among mothers, "Should I enroll my 4-year-old in an eloquence class?" It was originally a typical parenting topic. Everyone was talking about matching interests, time arrangements, and sex. As for price/performance, someone suddenly said, "My baby talks late and needs to have his tongue tie cut off." The topic immediately turned to the field of children's health. It's useless for mothers to come up with ideas for this kind of problem. You have to find a doctor in the pediatric dentistry or developmental pediatrics department for evaluation.

There are actually two extreme views now. One is that parenting is completely equivalent to keeping an eye on children's health indicators. They believe that "as long as the baby is not sick and has no pain and grows taller, he will be well-raised." I met a grandmother at the childcare center last month who refused to let her baby run and jump with other children in the community even when she was 5 years old. She said she was afraid that falling and bumping would affect her development. As a result, the baby still dares not to take the initiative to say hello to peers, and her social skills are obviously lagging behind children of the same age.； The other kind is the opposite, treating children's health as a "leftover" of parenting. They have enrolled in 6 interest classes for the sake of their children. It takes more than ten o'clock to finish homework every day, and they can't even get 10 hours of sleep. The last physical examination revealed myopia and mild scoliosis. The parents also said that "it's just a minor problem, and I can adjust it after I am admitted to junior high school." In fact, both of these two types of children have not clearly understood the boundaries between the two.

If you think about it, in fact, if you understand the relationship between the two, you won't go to extremes. You can think of parenting as taking care of a small garden. From tilling the soil, sowing seeds, watering to pruning flowers and setting up flower shelves, all actions are parenting. Children's health is like the health of the soil. You have to test the fertility regularly to see if there are any insect pests. Only when the soil is good will the flowers grow. But you can't just look at the soil every day and forget to let the flowers bask in the sun and adjust their growth, right? When I usually communicate with parents, I will say that there is no need to separate the two. For example, taking the child for a hike in the countryside on weekends is not only a parent-child parenting session to explore nature with the child, but also allows for 2 hours of outdoor time to prevent myopia and improve immunity. But if you really encounter problems related to the child's growth and development, abnormal emotional behavior, and disease, don't just deal with it blindly based on reading a few parenting posts. It is safest to find professionals in the field of child health.