Korea: Parents rush to give their children height-increasing supplements

(Dan Tri) - More than 28% of Korean children are given nutritional supplements and height-enhancing hormones by their parents from the age of 5. Experts warn that children's health is being sacrificed because of unrealistic height expectations.

As South Korean society increasingly values ​​height, many parents are spending money on nutritional supplements to help their children grow taller. This has worried health experts, especially as more parents are neglecting other basic factors that help increase height naturally.

Many Korean students are given height-increasing supplements or hormones by their parents from the age of 5 (Illustration: Unsplash).

Children use height-increasing foods and hormones from 5 years old

According to the latest survey by the Korean Pediatric Endocrine Society, in collaboration with Gallup Korea , more than 28% of parents with children aged 5-18 have used height-enhancing supplements. Calcium and vitamin D are the two most popular, with rates of 34% and 32.4%, respectively. In particular, nearly 40% of 5-6 year old preschoolers are given these supplements.

However, 75.7% of respondents said the supplement was only moderately effective or had no effect.

In addition to supplements, many people also give their children herbal medicine, massage and growth hormone injections. The rates of application of these methods are 17.3%, 12.6% and 4.6% respectively.

A height-increasing hormone used in Korea (Photo: Korea Herald).

In Korea, according to a statistic published by the Korea Herald earlier this year, many parents do not hesitate to spend up to 10 million won (equivalent to more than 180 million VND/year) to have their children injected with height-enhancing hormones. Children usually have to be injected every night for 1-3 years.

Initially, this method was only used for children with hormone disorders or serious genetic diseases. However, more and more healthy children are also using hormones to improve their height.

Despite the huge cost, many parents still see this as a "strategic" investment for their children's future.

Statistics from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Agency (HIRA) show that the number of growth hormone prescriptions almost doubled in just three years, from 138,537 in 2021 to 269,129 in 2024. The number of patients also increased from 16,711 to 34,881 in the same period. However, according to the Korea Herald, the actual number could be much higher.

Recently, a statistic on the height of Asian youth by the Global Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factors Research Group showed that Korea is the country with the second highest average height in Asia with 175.5cm in men and 163.2cm in women.

However, many parents are still not satisfied with this. On average, Korean parents expect their sons to be 180.4cm and their daughters to be 166.7cm, far exceeding the current average height. This stems from the fact that this country's society prioritizes employment and marriage opportunities for those with outstanding height.

Ranking the top 10 countries and territories in Asia by gender (Source: NCD Risk Factor Collaboration).

Korean children sleep little, eat little, and exercise little.

In addition, research also shows that many children in Korea today have unhealthy lifestyles.

Specifically, the time Korean children spend on electronic devices has skyrocketed. 43.5% of elementary school students spend more than 2 hours a day during the week, double the number of studies in 2016. At preschool age, 31.6% of children use screens for 1-2 hours on weekdays.

More than half of the parents participating in the study (55.7%) also said their children used devices right before bedtime.

“Using electronic devices right before bed negatively affects sleep quality,” said Lee Hae-sang, a professor of pediatrics at Ajou University Hospital.

In addition, lack of sleep is also a worrying problem. More than 80% of middle and high school students sleep less than 8 hours a day. The figures for elementary and kindergarten students are 36.3% and 26.3% respectively.

This sleep time is less than the recommendation of the Sleep Association, which says that children 3-5 years old should sleep 10-13 hours a day, children 6-13 years old should sleep 9-11 hours and children 14-17 years old should sleep 8-10 hours.

In addition, lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating are also becoming increasingly common in Korea.

About 15.3% of children reported not participating in any physical activity, while 40% exercised only once or twice a week. Nearly 20% of children did not eat three meals a day, and 7.3% of preschool parents said their children skipped breakfast.

From this study, the Korean Pediatric Endocrine Society called on parents to pay more attention to basic factors that help increase height such as sleep, exercise and nutrition instead of using functional foods or hormones.

“Instead of practicing a healthy lifestyle, people turn to supplements because it is easier to do. However, it should be noted that excessive intake of calcium, iron or zinc does not have any effect,” said Professor Hwang Il-tae, a pediatrician at Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital.

Pediatrician Lee Young-jun, Anam Hospital, Korea University, also warned that some parents are racing to give their children hormones and supplements without scientific basis.

“Instead, we should focus on helping children develop healthily through sleep, exercise and proper diet,” he shared.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/suc-khoe/han-quoc-phu-huynh-do-xo-cho-con-dung-thuc-pham-chuc-nang-tang-chieu-cao-20251026185038700.htm