Thai And Chinese Middle Class Parents Giving Their Children Growth Hormone?

[MrHammer]

I can't be the only ones who have noticed what seems to be very oversized school children in Bangkok but particularly China (if you go there sometime). It's a very well known issue in China that height is very important for ones career. The Chinese also consider it 'great success' if their children become as tall as westerners. I am not making this up, it's real life people!

I can't help but think that it's unnatural for parents who are small and slim to get such behemots as children. It does look amusing seeing these giant children in school uniform.

So my thesis is this: Thai-Chinese and Chinese parents give their kids growth hormones to make them grow taller.

That's all.

[Payboy]

Hopefully, that can take care of SMS as well.

[jaysg]

it may cause harmful side effects

[geriatrickid]

Change in size is a reflection of the change in diet. Meat is now a major component of urban Thais and the Chinese. There was a time when Europeans and North Americans were significantly smaller. Their change in diet resulted in some hefty sized Europeans.

[tinfoilhat]

The thai middle class has been getting taller over the last few generations.

I think it is largely dietary especially the introduction of milk into the middle class diet

[DP25]

Parents are really in to having their kids drink lots of milk but I don't think very many are giving them growth hormone injections

[farang000999]

Change in diet

[SeaVisionBurma]

Parents are really in to having their kids drink lots of milk but I don't think very many are giving them growth hormone injections

Don't recall anything in the OP about injections... Perhaps the OP meant oral/tablets...

Personally I doubt it. I think it is diet, as others have alluded to.

[arthurwait]

It's already been answered. Middle classes have better education now or access to the net/bookshops for western recipes and feed their kids in a more western style or just a more balanced diet with Thai style food.

The kids get more milk when young, too much being promoted by the powdered milk companies though

Meat as well as someone said.

Grow up in poverty or only eat nutritionless asian street food and you will be small.

Kids need a healthy balanced diet to grow. Rice or noddles with a couple of slithers of meat, most likely fatty meat just won't help you grow.

[chiangmaikelly]

The thai middle class has been getting taller over the last few generations.

I think it is largely dietary especially the introduction of milk into the middle class diet

How many American and Australian soldiers were stationed in Thailand during the 1960's and 1970's?

[poanoi]

I always stress the importance of a high protein drink with my gf,

and she believe me

[tinfoilhat]

The thai middle class has been getting taller over the last few generations.

I think it is largely dietary especially the introduction of milk into the middle class diet

How many American and Australian soldiers were stationed in Thailand during the 1960's and 1970's?

apropos of what?

[chiangmaikelly]

The thai middle class has been getting taller over the last few generations.

I think it is largely dietary especially the introduction of milk into the middle class diet

How many American and Australian soldiers were stationed in Thailand during the 1960's and 1970's?

apropos of what?

There were hundreds of thousands of tall white Farangs here for 10 years and they weren't celibate. I'm not talking about R&R I am talking about troops stationed here working every day in Thailand up North down South for years and years (1965 to 1975).

[SeaVisionBurma]

There were hundreds of thousands of tall white Farangs here for 10 years and they weren't celibate. I'm not talking about R&R I am talking about troops stationed here working every day in Thailand up North down South for years and years (1965 to 1975).

Whatever you're talking about - it has no connection to the OP.... Drop it.

[impulse]

Pigs and cows grow faster (more profitable) if they're fed hormones. Hormones get passed up the food chain.

Food lasts longer on the shelf if it's preserved in chemicals. Some of those chemicals (allegedly) have the side effect of increasing appetite.

Asian kids eat more meat and processed foods than they used to.

Supplemental hormone injections not required...

[tinfoilhat]

There were hundreds of thousands of tall white Farangs here for 10 years and they weren't celibate. I'm not talking about R&R I am talking about troops stationed here working every day in Thailand up North down South for years and years (1965 to 1975).

Whatever you're talking about - it has no connection to the OP.... Drop it.

my point exactly, perhaps CMK could vary his agenda just a little

[bunta71]

milk

[h90]

I know three families both parents usual Thai size or even small and the three kids are are very tall.

2 of the kids are also very fat....so very tall and very fat

1 is tall and slim

the two fat and tall are "girls" my guess is they are above 1.80....

[Payboy]

Eggs

[Stradavarius37]

Milk - and Bovine Growth Hormone.

[manarak]

It's a very well known issue in China that height is very important for ones career.

not only in China.

This is also very well known in the western world.

Tall people have significantly greater chances to become managers and to get promotions in management.

If you add a manly face, good hair and deep voice the chances are double or triple compared to Mr. Normal.

That's why there are so many dolts in management.

[kblaze]

A student of mine says that his best friend, a 14 yr old kid, is forced to drink some imported birds nest drink from Indonesia by his mom every morning before school, apparently it costs like 10,000 bt a bottle. I think it is more about trying to make him smart than physically large.

[Zatoichi]

It happened allot in the States too, ages ago before folks even knew what hormones were.For centuries during the slavery era, whites would buy big husky black women to wet nurse their children in hopes that they would get some of whatever made the blacks so strong and resilient.

Now I think everyone gets in from the cow milk. I'm too big for almost anything in Thailand, but going back Stateside last month, after many years of being away, reminded me of how small I am in comparison.

[h90]

A student of mine says that his best friend, a 14 yr old kid, is forced to drink some imported birds nest drink from Indonesia by his mom every morning before school, apparently it costs like 10,000 bt a bottle. I think it is more about trying to make him smart than physically large.

yes that bird nest thing......that doesn't do anything good or bad....well it does some good to the seller.....

[SeaVisionBurma]

yes that bird nest thing......that doesn't do anything good or bad....well it does some good to the seller.....

Yes, no doubt some good to the seller - and bad for the drinker. I had the misfortune of trying a birds nest concoction once, and it did not taste pretty....

[soomak]

I agree with many posts here, it's because of the diet:

More calories, more dairy products loaded with hormones, and more protein.

It happened in the west as well 1-2 generations ago. My generation is on average taller than our parents, who were also taller then their parents.

I doubt if growth hormones are common practice in Thailand, as it is quite expensive and not easy to obtain.

[Rancid]

Hard to know the effects on children but would suspect not good. Body builders or what are commonly referred to as beefcakes in the West that take GH tend to have higher musculature, lower IQ, shrunken penises and prone to roid rage. Doesn't seem like a future I want for my kids.

[MrHammer]

I agree it's not common in Thailand, but no way is it natural for a couple that is around 160-170 cms to get a child that is 180 cm.

Hormones are easily obtainable in Asia and I'm dead sure that something is going on with the Chinese. They're grown very fast and it can't only be diet. They're almost on average as large as westerners now.

There's no real check for what is put in milk and other supplements over here. Maybe it actually IS the bovine growth hormone being passed on through the milk?

[GuestHouse]

The cause of the size gap between young people today and their parents is almost certainly attributable to growth hormones in the food chain - particularly chicken.

When I was growing up my parents provided what by the standards of the day was pretty high protein diet, chicken was a luxury back then (no mass chicken production) but certain all other meats and dairy foods where dished up in abundance. I'm an inch taller than my father was, my siblings all similar size.

A generation later, my children and all of their friends are several inches taller than their parents.

This cannot be explained away by more proteins or better food, I doubt very much the amount of protein consumed in the west between the 70s/80s and today is noticeable.

The consumption by the farming industry of growth hormones is however hugely increased.

The accusation that parents here in Thailand are deliberately feeding their kids growth hormones is almost certainly incorrect.

They have no need to do so, CP Foods are doing it for them.

[tullynagardy]

Interesting post.

The Thai students in London (who invariably are from well off backgrounds) are on average several inches taller than their countryman is issan for example. Im 5 10 and most are as big and many taller.

This is also alot to do with ethnicity however with most rich Thais also be Chinese in origin opposed to Loas or Thai. Whilst some regions of China are short some are actually pretty tall.