Photo source: Children on the official website of the National Health and Health Commission grow slower than their peers, are not tall, and weigh less... These problems in children's growth have troubled many parents. How can children grow slowly through "feeding"? Recently, the General Office of the National Health and Health Commission issued the "Guidelines for Children and Adolescents with Growth Retardation (2023)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines"), which aims to promote the improvement of the nutritional status of children and adolescents, further reduce the rate of growth retardation, help children and adolescents develop healthy eating habits, and give full play to their growth potential. More than 12 kinds of food per day and more than 25 kinds of food per week What is growth retardation? The guide gives a clear definition: growth retardation refers to the age specific height (an index to evaluate the physical and nutritional status of children and adolescents based on height) that is lower than the threshold range of screening criteria due to insufficient intake of protein or energy, vitamins and minerals in the diet, and belongs to long-term malnutrition. The Report on the Status of Nutrition and Chronic Diseases of Chinese Residents (2020) shows that the growth retardation rate of children under 6 years old is 4.8%, and that of children and adolescents aged 6-17 years old is 1.7%. The growth retardation rate of children and adolescents has been significantly different between urban and rural areas, which is about 2-3 times that of urban areas. Growth retardation affects the physical and intellectual development of children in adolescence, resulting in physical decline and poor learning performance. In severe cases, it is easy to suffer from diarrhea, pneumonia and other diseases, increasing the incidence rate and mortality of infectious diseases. In addition, it may affect their adult height, increase the risk of obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other chronic diseases, and reduce labor productivity. The growth retardation of children and adolescents is still one of the important public health problems that China is currently facing. According to the characteristics of children and adolescents with growth retardation, the guide gives the principles and suggestions of food and nutrition, and describes in detail the food choices and examples of food and nutrition prescriptions for children and adolescents with growth retardation, the recommendation of food and drug substances of different syndrome types, and the examples of recipes and common food exchange tables in different regions and seasons. If you have growth retardation, what should you pay attention to in your diet? The guide recommends that food choices for children and adolescents with growth retardation should be comprehensive, balanced and diverse. Ensure three meals a day, regular and regular diet, and adequate intake of energy and nutrients. The meals of each meal shall include three or more kinds of food, such as cereals and potatoes, vegetables and fruits, livestock and poultry, fish eggs, milk and soybeans; There are more than 12 kinds of food every day and more than 25 kinds of food every week. Special attention should be paid to the selection of foods with high nutrient density. The density of high-quality protein, vitamin D, B vitamins, minerals and other nutrients in fish and shrimp food is high; Dark green leafy vegetables have a high density of minerals, vitamins and other nutrients; Egg yolk is an important source of a variety of nutrients, such as vitamin A, vitamin D, vitamin E, phosphorus, iron, choline, etc. It is also one of the foods with high nutrient density. At the same time, on the basis of reasonable diet, we can choose food and drug substances for different syndrome types. Some children and adolescents have slow growth, which is often related to picky and partial eating. For this reason, the guide suggests that we should pay attention to the exchange of similar foods and enrich the variety of foods in the daily meal preparation process,