Do children grow when they have a fever?

Hit the tripwire. Half-truths answer questions related to growth, and one of them is the statement that the child grows with the temperature. “Fever occurs when there is pathology. The baby is not expected to grow during this period,” Rosaura Leis, coordinator of the Nutrition and Breastfeeding Committee of the Spanish Association of Pediatrics (AEP), tells CuídatePlus. Of course, the expert claims that when the child is sick, small secretions of growth hormone (GH) may be produced.

Of course, this secretion is not caused by the fever itself. The Spanish Association of Primary Care Pediatricians (AEPap) points to two factors: “First, fever stimulates growth hormone as part of the defense mechanisms. The second has to do with the number of hours of sleep. Children sleep more when they are sick and sleep also causes the release of this hormone”

Therefore, fever cannot be related to growth. It never leads to fever, “as it is a continuous activity during the first 18 years of life,” points out AEPap, which recalls that Fever is a defense mechanism against other types of problems such as infections.. “And it has nothing to do with whether the child grows bigger or smaller. This will depend on genetics, diet or environment,” he adds.

Just as fever does not cause growth spurts, the reverse is also not true. That is “there is no evidence that height causes fever. A child is a developing organism that increases in size, but not linearly, but in small steps. It should not cause pathology or fever,” says Leis.

Is growth harmful?

There is also no scientific evidence that growth is harmful. True, those periodic leg pains that children feel at night are called “growing pains.” However, according to AEPap, this is an inappropriate term. Regarding these inconveniences, they explain: “It is not known what their cause is. Sometimes, They appear when a child does more exercise than usual during the day, such as running or jumping.. They occur mainly between the ages of four and eight years. They usually resolve spontaneously within one or two years after onset.”

Regarding what factors stimulate growth hormone, Leis cites the following:

• Proper sleep.
• Daily physical exercise.
• A varied and balanced diet. The contribution of macro- and microelements necessary for cellular hyperplasia, i.e. to increase cell size.

“Therefore, health status, healthy eating habits and physical activity will be important for the good growth of a child and adolescent,” the specialist summarizes.

What age are you growing up to?

Growth occurs throughout childhood and may continue into the second decade of life. “The periods of maximum growth occur in the first year of life, especially in the first months.“, details the AEP expert, who clarifies that puberty is another stage in which peak growth occurs and peak bone mass is reached.

“This is when we should pay special attention to healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle precisely because they are a window of opportunity for metabolic programming of the health of our children,” the specialist insists.

Referring to It is widely believed that girls stop growing after their first period.Leys clarifies that this is not the case, “although it is true that there is a growth peak just before puberty. From that point on, it continues to grow, but to a lesser extent.”