If you are the parent of a child heading towards puberty, then you should check out these myths.
As parents, we want to help and support our children as they grow, and to do this, we need to arm ourselves with the most up-to-date information we can from reliable sources.
Unfortunately, there are so many myths, misinformation and conflicting information out there, so it can be pretty confusing.
But we will constantly worry about our kids, no matter what age they are, so differentiating myth from reality is so important – if we are going to worry, we at least want to worry about the right things.
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Myths about growth and puberty many parents believe
Dr Rinku Mehra, a pediatric endocrinologist, shared ‘the biggest growth myths’ that parents need to know.
‘There’s so much confusing information out there when it comes to kids’ growth and puberty – and not all of it is true,’ she said, introducing her video on Instagram.
1. They’re short now, but they’ll catch up later
If your child is on the shorter people may say this to you but according to Dr Mehra this isn’t always the case. ‘If a child has a nutritional deficiency or a hormonal issue, they will not catch up later’.
2. Puberty means your child is going to grow a lot more
The doctor says that ‘this is not always true’. If a child goes through puberty early they may grow faster than their peers initially but they have less time to grow so may end up being shorter.’
3. Short parents means short kids
This is a common one, but it turns out that it’s not always true either. Dr Mehra says that ‘while genetics plays a huge role, we really cannot predict what a child’s final height is going to be just based on their parents’ height’.
