A celebrity couple in China have begun giving their 11-year-old son growth hormone injections amid worries about how small he is. - Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin
BEIJING: The wife of China’s Olympic boxing champion Zou Shiming has sparked a heated discussion on hormone treatment after she decided to give growth injections to their teenage son, who appeared to have stayed at the same height for years.
Zou’s wife Ran Yingying, a former TV hostess and now an online influencer, said in mid-December that she and her husband had been anxious about one of their their sons, nicknamed Haohao, for two years.
This prompted them to take him to hospital for hormone treatment to make him grow taller, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.
The couple, who are both 162cm tall, have three sons. Haohao, 11, is 136.6cm in height, about 30cm shorter than his brother who is two years older.
Ran said she noticed Haohao seemed not to grow at all over the past two years.
His mother has been researching studies and surveys about boys’ growth and has tried various would-be solutions to stimulate his growth.
She once sent the boy to play basketball. But while other boys grew taller, Haohao’s height remained the same.
Earlier this month, Ran took Haohao to a Shanghai hospital where doctors told her “it was necessary” to administer a growth hormone otherwise, he would miss the “best opportunity” for growth.
The medication, a daily shot, costs from 200 to 2,000 yuan (US$27 to US$275) per injection in China, depending on the brand and different volumes required depending on the child’s weight.
Ran said they were hesitant about adopting the method because it means that Haohao will require a daily injection and might develop an inferiority complex.
“But Haohao is quite optimistic. He said he is not afraid of receiving the injection,” Ran said in an online video clip.
“He said many athletes had undergone hormone treatment. He said maybe one day he will become an athlete, like his father.”
Ran added that when she administered the first injection her hands were shaking but her son comforted her by saying it did not hurt.
The mother said she is clearly aware of th at the treatment could affect individual children differently.
“As a mother, I will try my best to help him grow better,” she said.
Zou, 43, won gold medals in boxing at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics. He and Ran, 40, married in 2010.
Ran’s video has trended on mainland social media and has attracted 20,000 comments.
“Don’t be over anxious. Some kids grow early while some grow late,” said one online observer.
However, another person said: “Many people feel inferior for being short. So if you have enough money and doctors approved, you should take your kids to receive this injection. If you do not, you will regret it for your whole life.”
“Try other ways for growing tall, like skipping, hanging on a horizontal bar and jumping high”, said a third. - South China Morning Post
