As a society, we have inherited many ideas about the evolutionary development of children and especially about the development of babies. Among the myths and truths present in society is the belief that fever is linked to increased growth of the young child.
But is there scientific evidence to prove this or is it an inherited idea that we should discard?
growth hormone and sleep
To answer this we must address the side effects caused by having fever. Fever in both adults and children causes a lot of fatigue to the body and our response is to go to sleep.
Just when children are young they suffer from many illnesses and fevers because their immune system is still very weak and they are being exposed for the first time to many pathogens, viruses and bacteria. This fever causes them to sleep for a long time.
Science has shown that while children sleep, the growth hormone or GH hormone is secreted in greater amounts. As the scientists Víctor Arce, Jesús AF Tresguerres and Jesús Devesa recount in the book ‘Human Physiology’ “under normal conditions, the greatest release of GH occurs during sleep, mainly associated with the first phase of slow waves, with peaks of lesser amplitude associated with subsequent phases of slow waves & rdquor ;. The slow wave phase is found in the phase of sleep in which our bodies do not perform rapid eye movements (Non-REM sleep), it is very deep and restorative.
Growth hormone is secreted in greater quantity when it has passed between 1/3 and an hour after falling asleep. The highest levels of secretion of this hormone occur until the third month of the baby’s birth. When we reach the stage of 20-30, a decline begins until we age. Therefore, while children sleep, more growth hormone is secreted.
So is there a relationship between fever and a child’s growth?
Scientific evidence cannot show that there is a direct relationship between the growth of children and fever. What we can point out is that there is an indirect relationship between fever and growth, since young children are very prone to diseases, so they have more fever, which makes them more sleepy and while they sleep a large amount is secreted of growth hormone.