What are the differences between parenting and child health?

I have been a front-line guide in the maternal and infant field for 6 years. The two concepts are most often confused by parents. In fact, the core difference is that the boundaries and goals are completely different - parenting is a full-dimensional nurturing behavior covering the entire stage of children from birth to adulthood, while children's health is a professional field focusing on the maintenance of physical and mental status and disease prevention and control of people aged 0-18 years old. There are many intersections between the two, but the core is completely different.

Let’s not talk about the methods. Just look at the content covered by the two and you can see the obvious difference. You usually read picture books to your child and teach him not to yell in public, take him to play social games with children in the community, and teach him how to manage time without procrastination when tutoring homework. These are all typical parenting contents and have nothing to do with health.； But if you look at the growth curve to see how much weight your child has gained this month, observe whether his recent poop is dry and hard, and give him vitamin D supplements in advance to prevent colds when the seasons change, these are real things in the field of children's health. Many people will ask, what is the point of making complementary food for babies? In fact, it is a typical cross-over scenario. You are looking at whether there are allergens in the ingredients, whether the combination meets the nutritional needs of the current age, and whether you will eat too much and accumulate food. At this time, you are doing things related to children's health, but if you also teach your child to eat with a spoon and put his own small bowl in the sink after eating, this is the cultivation of behavioral habits in parenting, and each side only takes a part.

In addition to the different content covered, the method logic used by the two is also far different. Methods for children's health are basically based on clear evidence, such as the Child Growth Standards of the World Health Organization and the Nursing Guidelines for Common Children's Diseases issued by the Domestic Pediatric Association. These have been extensively clinically verified. If you follow them, you will basically not make any big mistakes. I once met a new mother who rushed to give antibiotics as soon as the baby's fever reached 37.8°C. Later, after reading the Children's Fever Care Guide, I learned that physical cooling is prioritized below 38.5°C, and antibiotics are only needed when bacterial infection is confirmed. This professional method cannot be tolerated by oneself. But the parenting methods are too flexible. It also involves teaching children how to calm down when they lose their temper. Some families use cold treatment to wait for the baby to calm down, some parents squat down and hold the baby to empathize, and some families prepare a special emotional venting corner for the baby. As long as it adapts to the personality of the baby, the effect will not be bad at all. It is necessary to copy the "perfect parenting template" online. I have an impatient father who used the "delayed gratification" training online. He didn't hold his baby for ten minutes after crying. As a result, the baby felt even more insecure. Later, he changed it to respond to the baby's needs first, and then slowly taught him to wait. The parent-child relationship became much smoother.

There are a lot of debates in the industry now. Many bloggers tie parenting and children's health too tightly, and even regard "whether the child's height and weight are up to standard" and "whether the baby has not been sick for a year" as the only criteria for successful parenting. People who support it believe that child health is the basis of all parenting. Without health, other traits and achievements will be lost. It’s empty talk. Those who oppose it think that parenting should also cover the child’s personality development, social interaction skills, and interest development. If you only focus on the health indicators, it will easily ignore the child’s inner needs and raise sensitive and fragile children. In fact, both views are reasonable, but in essence, the boundary between the two is still not clear.

To put it bluntly, if you compare raising a child to planting a peach tree, raising a child starts with the germination of the seeds. You have to build a frame for it to prevent it from being blown by the wind, cut off the branches that grow randomly, and guide it to grow in the direction of the sun. Whether the peach is sweet or not, and whether it sells well or not, are all the results of your upbringing.； Children's health means regularly testing the tree for diseases and insect pests, checking whether the soil fertility is sufficient, and controlling the amount of watering and fertilization. It only cares whether the tree is strong or not, whether it is sick or not, and it doesn't care whether the peach that ends up is sour or sweet, or whether it is big or not.