Nutrition

• 1). Evaluate your child's daily diet for several key factors: number of grams of protein consumed, amount of calcium consumed, number of amino acids consumed (out of a possible 20 at every meal) and number of fruits and vegetables consumed. Write these amounts down.
  
  
• 2). The Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine recommends that children from four to eight years old have 19 grams of protein a day; and children nine to 13-years-old, 34 grams a day. If your evaluation has shown that your child is not getting enough protein, include more milk, red meat, chicken, and protein-rich vegetables throughout the day until they meet or slightly exceed the recommended daily requirement for protein.
  
  
• 3). According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, calcium is also important to growth in children. Calcium helps foster stronger bones, and a lack of calcium may contribute to stunted growth. The Academy recommends that children one to three years of age get 500mg of calcium per day (around two glasses of milk). Children ages four to eight require about 800mg of calcium a day (around three glasses of milk) and older children and teens ages nine to 18 require about 1,300mg of calcium each day (around 4 glasses of milk).
  
  If you can, add more milk, cheese and yogurt to his or her diet to meet these recommendations or give your child's a multivitamin that contains calcium.
  
  
• 4). Ensure that your child is receiving the necessary amount of amino acids, the building blocks of protein in the body, by including an animal protein or vegetable proteins at every meal. Vegetables rich in protein include all kinds of beans, peas, asparagus, broccoli, brussels sprouts and watercress. Certain vegetables like lentils require the addition of another food like rice or bread to make them complete proteins. By including all the amino acids in each meal, it ensures that your child has the ability to build any and all proteins necessary for healthy growth.
  
  

Sleep and Exercise

• 1). Norman Wilsman, Ph.D., of the University of Wisconsin, conducted a study in 2005 that showed that 90 percent of bone growth occurs at night. Therefore, it is important to evaluate your child while he or she sleeps to ensure that nothing is interfering with this process. Several factors to look for: number of hours slept, body posture while sleeping, and if his or her limbs are free to move.
  
  
• 2). According to the book, "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth, children should get between 8 1/2 and 9 1/2 hours of sleep per night to ensure maximum bone growth.
  
  
• 3). Check to see if any blankets or sheets are impeding any part of your child's body. If so, try to use more loose-fitting sheets or blankets so that the child's body is not confined at all during sleep. The reason that most growth occurs at night is because the body is unimpeded when laying down and at rest. There is a chance that you can counteract this relaxation by causing constriction of the body during sleep.
  
  
• 4). Experts do not recommend children choose weight lifting as a form of exercise. The weights may press down on your child's spine, which may cause the bones to become too dense, closing the epiphysis (the growth area of a bone). A closure of the epiphysis will cause that bone to cease growing. Instead, encourage your child to do exercises that use his or her natural body weight, like push-ups and sit-ups.
  
  
• 5). If your child is abnormally small and you are worried that there is a deficiency of some kind, see your doctor about growth hormone treatments. These treatments are somewhat controversial and should only be used on children who have an actual hormonal deficiency. The treatments can cause adverse reactions, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, diabetes, high blood pressure, and serious allergic reactions in normal growing children. Avoid buying over-the-counter growth treatments or herbal remedies that promise to promote growth.