Spending tens of millions of dong for children to go to the gym to increase height

Hanoi Ms. Hien, 42 years old, spent more than 20 million VND to buy a gym package with a personal trainer for three summer months to help her child improve his height.

Hung, her son, is 13 years old and is 1.45 m tall, shorter than his peers. The whole family is determined to help Hung grow taller this summer. "My husband and I are not very tall, so we have to do everything we can to make our son taller," she said.

The gym package Ms. Hien chose for her child is 36 sessions (each session is one hour) in three months, priced at 600,000 VND per session. The exercises are specially designed by the trainer, aiming at increasing height and agility during puberty, such as jumping exercises, increasing strength and endurance. The gym center staff said that this price is a summer promotion for students. Normally, the price is around 1 million VND per session.

The price is a bit high, however, after considering the benefits, Ms. Hien still chose it and tried to let her child practice, taking advantage of the golden period in the height growth process.

Ms. Hien's group of 7 parents all signed up for a full summer gym package for their children. Ms. Mai, 43 years old, has two children in grades 6 and 8. She has worked out with a personal trainer for a few sessions at a fitness center in Thanh Xuan district, costing about 50 million VND. Before the first session, the children's height and weight were measured by the trainer to come up with a suitable schedule and exercises. She said that after a few sessions, her children felt that the exercises were within their abilities, and she felt reassured.

A student practices gymnastics during the summer. Photo: Provided by the trainer — A student works out during the summer. Photo: *Provided by the trainer*

Many parents have signed up for training packages for their children at fitness centers and personal trainers, creating a movement this summer, according to Mr. Lai Luan, an Elite Fitness trainer. For example, Mr. Luan’s center currently has many students aged 13-17, which means they are in late middle and high school.

Mr. Luan said that at the end of May, when summer vacation began, the number of students increased rapidly. The place where he teaches has about 800 people practicing every day, of which he personally receives 10-15 students, of which more than 30% are students. Before summer vacation, students were mainly adults and office workers.

"During the summer, parents buy a whole training package for their children, so the students grow quickly," Mr. Luan explained, adding that each training session lasts about 1-2 hours, with separate exercises to support height growth, physical training, and detailed nutritional advice. Thuy Linh, 14 years old, a junior high school student in Hanoi, has been training here since the beginning of June, 3-4 sessions per week, with no time limit at the gym. She said the trainer mainly guides height-increasing and physical training exercises, and after 5 consecutive sessions, "her body feels much healthier."

Other gyms also offer "three-month summer packages" for students and parents to experience. Coach Vu Duc Thang, who works at a gym on Lang Road, said that 50% of his current students are students. On weekdays, there are almost no students working out because they are still in school. The package of 36 sessions in three months at this center costs more than ten million VND, not higher than usual. At the request of many parents, Thang also designs separate exercises suitable for children's physical condition and height growth.

The 14 facilities of the Kickfit Sport Fitness Center now have separate classes for children to practice in the summer, each class has about ten students while previously it was only crowded on weekends. The price for each session is about 300,000 VND. Before practicing with the coach, students have a trial session to prepare exercises that meet their requirements such as increasing height, training physical strength, agility, and endurance.

Coach Thang instructs a student, Photo: Provided by the coach — Coach Thang instructs a student in the gym. Photo: *Provided by the coach*

Sports doctor Nguyen Trong Thuy, Starsmec Sports Medicine Center, said that height is determined by many factors, of which 20% comes from proper training. Gym helps develop and improve muscle flexibility effectively. Many studies show that gym is also beneficial for bones such as increasing strength and bone strength index (BSI), reducing the risk of fractures and sports-related injuries, supporting height increase.

However, doctors note that it is necessary to practice correctly, because to increase height, there are separate exercises and specific instructions from a trainer.

According to coach Lai Luan, the main impact of the gym is to build muscle, such as the most used bodyweight exercise. This is an exercise that does not require the use of machines or supporting equipment, but only uses body weight to help increase endurance, develop muscles without using weights, thereby supporting height increase.

Some exercises such as bird dog, push up, back lunge, curtsy lunge, inch worms, have the effect of stretching the length of the spine from the skull, neck and ribs to the vertebrae and spine of the hips, strengthening the muscles, hips and back. Cobra pose, locust pose is easy to practice at home, both stimulates height and is good for spinal health.

Spend tens of millions for children to go to the gym to increase height — In addition to gym, children also have exercises to increase agility and endurance. Video : *Provided by the trainer*

Nutrition experts also believe that height depends not only on genes but also on intervention factors, including exercise. Dr. Nguyen Trong Hung, National Institute of Nutrition, said that parents need to pay attention to their children's nutrition in three stages: during pregnancy, 0-2 years old, and pre-puberty and puberty.

During pregnancy, babies can reach 50 cm in length at birth, 25 cm in the first year, 10-12 cm in the second year; 5-7 cm each year after that; 7-15 cm each year during pre-puberty and puberty. According to the growth standards of Vietnamese children, pre-puberty is 9-11 years old for girls and 12-14 years old for boys; puberty is 12-13 for girls and 15-16 for boys). "Families should make the most of this period to have a suitable diet and exercise regimen to help their children grow taller," Dr. Hung advised.

In addition to going to the gym with moderate exercises, parents should encourage their children to play outdoors or participate in sports that help strengthen bones such as basketball, volleyball, swimming, badminton, cycling. A balanced diet with a variety of foods to provide enough energy, balance energy-producing substances (protein, fat, carbohydrates), as well as vitamins and minerals. Supplement foods rich in protein and calcium such as meat, fish, shrimp, crab, eggs and egg products, milk.

According to Mayoclinic , students, especially preteens and teens, should be active for 60 minutes or more daily with muscle- and bone-strengthening exercises, at least three times a week, performing exercises that are safe and appropriate for their physical fitness.

At this age, kids work with a personal trainer to develop a safe, effective strength training program based on age, skills, and interests, along with proper supervision and guidance to prevent injury. Your doctor may recommend that your child begin each strength training session with 5 to 10 minutes of light aerobic activity, such as walking, jogging in place, or jumping rope, to warm up the muscles and prepare them for more vigorous activity.

According to the results of the 2019-2020 General Nutrition Survey, the average height of young Vietnamese men is 168.1 cm, an increase of 3.7 cm compared to 2010; the average height of women is 156.2 cm, an increase of 1.4 cm. The growth rate of Vietnamese people's height in the past 10 years has nearly doubled that of the previous decade, but is still considered slow. From 2000 to 2010, the height of young men increased by 2.1 cm (from over 162 to over 164 cm); women only increased by 1 cm. In general, Vietnamese people's average height has increased by 1.1 cm per decade since 1975.

Thuy Quynh

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