What are the differences between parenting and child health?

The core difference between the two is the category boundaries and action goals - children's health is the core bottom line to be guarded in the parenting process, while parenting is a complete parenting system covering the entire stage of a child from birth to adulthood. It not only includes health, but also involves cognitive development, personality shaping, social adaptation and other dimensions.

Last week, when I was volunteering as a child care guide in the community, I met a mother who brought her 2-year-old baby for a physical check-up. As soon as she sat down, she took out her mobile phone to write down her food account for half a month. She asked with a frown on her face whether her baby's recent refusal to eat green leafy vegetables was due to zinc deficiency and whether it would affect his height development. At this time, she was concerned about typical children's health issues. After the blood test, After measuring the growth curve, the doctor said that all the indicators were within the normal range. She immediately took out another page of handwritten notes and asked if she should sign up for a concentration class and read the flashcards in advance for enlightenment. At this time, her needs fell into the category of parenting and were not included in the discussion of children's health.

Many novice parents tend to confuse the two. Essentially, they unconsciously apply their parenting expectations to the evaluation criteria of health. Two months ago, a parent came to me for consultation and asked whether his 3-year-old child could not memorize 20 ancient poems. Is it developmental delay and whether he should supplement with DHA? In fact, he mistook the parenting goal of intellectual enlightenment for the assessment dimension of children's health, which inadvertently caused unnecessary anxiety to himself. There are actually different opinions on the boundary between the two in the academic world. Many scholars in the field of public health believe that social adaptability and emotional regulation ability should also be included in the assessment of children's health. After all, the incidence of children's psychological problems is getting higher and higher. Early inclusion can lead to early intervention. However, many practitioners in the field of child development psychology still tend to include The boundary of health is drawn more narrowly. As long as the child's physiological functions are normal, his emotional state is stable, and he has no pathological symptoms, he is considered healthy. After all, each child's growth rhythm is very different. If too many standardized parenting expectations are included in the health standards, it will be easy to label children who grow normally as "abnormal", which will be counterproductive.

To put it bluntly, it is like raising potted plants at home. Children's health is to ensure that the plant does not have insects, root rot, lack of water or light, and that the leaves are stretched and have no spots. In addition to these basic maintenance, child care also requires adjusting the watering frequency according to its species, setting up a shelf for the climbing vines, and moving the shade-loving ones. Whether the flowers bloom in the end are big or small, and the fruits are sweet or sour. As long as there are no diseases, it is normal. You don't have to follow the "standard maintenance template" on the Internet. When we usually provide family parenting guidance, we always tell parents to first understand the difference between the two, first keep the bottom line of children's health, and then talk about personalized adjustments to parenting. Don't reverse the order. Tossing the child for unnecessary parenting goals will damage the child's health, and the gain will outweigh the loss.