What are the differences between parenting and children's health

The core difference is that the scope and positioning of the two are completely different - parenting is the sum of parenting practices covering all dimensions of child growth, while children's health is one of the core goals in the parenting system and is also an independent professional intervention field.

I have been working as a parenting guide and science popularizer in the community for 5 years. Most of the parents I come into contact with will confuse these two concepts. Last week, I met a new mother born in 1995 who said that she could not help but provide 2 hours of early education to her 2-year-old baby every day and practice independent eating. The baby did not gain weight for half a year and did not take it seriously. She even proudly said that she "did a good job in parenting", which is typical of the core bottom line of health.

To give a clear analogy, raising a child is like taking care of a small garden. Child care is a complete set of actions from selecting seedlings, cultivating soil, watering, fertilizing, pruning, preventing weeds, and coping with the rainy season. It can be as small as turning flowers to bask in the sun, or as big as choosing which varieties to plant, all are included in the scope of child care; and children's health is equivalent to professional care. The main focus is on the growth status of the plants, whether there are insects, whether they are deficient in nutrients, and whether the branches are growing crookedly. This is a section that focuses more on the assessment, maintenance and intervention of physiological and psychological states. It is the basic bottom line. Without this, other maintenance will be useless no matter how fancy it is. But just looking at the absence of diseases does not mean that the garden is well-kept.

Take the most troublesome problem of picky eating for parents. From the perspective of parenting, there are many things to consider: Is the taste of recent meals too simple and inconsistent with the child's preferences? Is it because adults always stare at and lecture during meals, putting too much pressure on the child? Should we take advantage of the fact that our child doesn’t like to eat green leafy vegetables and take him to the vegetable market to pick vegetables? How about we go home and pick vegetables together and play a small game to guide him? We also need to coordinate with the elderly at home not to secretly stuff snacks into meals instead of meals, and we even have to consider whether it will destroy the child's willingness to eat independently. But from the perspective of children's health, the first step is to compare growth curves and do a nutritional screening if necessary. As long as all developmental indicators are within the normal range and there are no trace element deficiencies, then this "picky eater" is not a health problem. How to adjust habits in the future is all a matter of parenting.

There are always different voices in the industry regarding the priorities of the two. Most practitioners in the field of children's health believe that health is always the first priority when it comes to children, and all parenting behaviors must not touch the health red line. For example, children under 3 years old must not be given processed snacks, and children must not be allowed to sleep for more than one hour late; Senior parenting consultants will more likely believe that raising a baby is ultimately about raising an independent individual with a sense of autonomy. There is no need to be too tightly bound by health standards. Occasionally eating ice cream, playing with the children on weekends until going to bed half an hour late, as long as the overall direction is OK, it will make the baby more relaxed, and it will also be good for physical and mental health in the long run.

In fact, there is no absolute right or wrong between these two views. I have previously dealt with a baby who was born with milk protein allergy and mild developmental delay. All the parenting actions at home in the first three years were centered around health intervention. Even relatives had to disinfect their hands before holding the baby when they came to the house. In an ordinary family, doing this would most likely result in a baby who is squeamish and poorly adaptable, but for this child with special needs, this is the most suitable choice.

In fact, the most practical role of understanding the difference between the two is to help parents screen out unnecessary anxiety. Instead of panicking when seeing a certain "development standard" or "parenting requirement" mentioned by parenting bloggers, first check whether there are any abnormalities in health. If there are no abnormalities, just raise the baby slowly at his own pace. There is no standard answer to raising a baby.