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Potential to grow?
Hi, I'm 17 years old (turning 18 in January) and I'm a guy. I'm really worried because all my life I've been quite short compared to people around me. Thing is, puberty hair arrived on time, and I have quite a lot facial hair etc. but I'm only 5ft7 and have only grown by an inch (in two years), since I was 15. I've been to the doctor and he said there's nothing I can do, just hope that wait and see. I have a healthy diet, I get 8 hours of sleep a day (sometimes less during school days, but much longer hours during weekends/holidays), I do a sufficient amount of exercise, I have most of the vitamins required etc. I haven't got a growth hormone deficiency. My mum is 5ft4 and my dad is 6ft. My cousins are all quite tall (over 6ft), despite both their parents being around same height as my mum, but they're 28/30ish now. My doctor said that I might have a late growth spurt as I've never really had one, so I hope it's true. I just find it quite intimating since most of my mates are 6ft or taller (the guys and some of the girls) and I'm always the shortest in a crowd. I really hope I reach at least 5ft9 by the time I'm 19. Do you think this is possible? Only difference from my cousins is that they've lived in one place all their life, whilst I've been travelling around and been moving to different countries so never really had the chance to settle down anywhere. So I'd just like to know if you think this will be my final height or if there is still a possibility that I might grow a bit taller? And if possible, is there anything I can do to ensure that this does happen? Cheers.
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Reply 1
Your height is genetically determined. Short of going on the rack, there's nothing you can do other than making sure you're eating healthily and exercising, but seriously, unless you're malnourished or you just never move from your room, you'll grow to your full height (whether that's 5'7'' or 6'6'') and then stop, and there's nothing you can do about that.
It's nothing to do with puberty; maybe you're just naturally short. Nothing wrong with that.
It's nothing to do with puberty; maybe you're just naturally short. Nothing wrong with that.
Reply 2
I know it's 99.9% to do with genetics, and a lot of people have told me that they used to be similar height and then had a late growth spurt. I just hope that's the same with me. If that doesn't happen, then I'll just have to accept my height, I know. But it's just annoying as it’s so difficult to find something that fits me and you get these little 'short' jokes from time to time and I'm kind of fed up with them (although I used to go along with it and joke about my height before). I'm just wondering if there's a possibility that I might grow another inch or so by the time I've reached 19-20?
The onset of puberty is very relevant when considering growth (though in itself has a genetic component too), the fastest growth velocity occurs at ~Stage 4 for males, then tales off. So if a patient presents with concerns about their height - along with checking general health, pubertal status is vital - if it's not started or very early stages (testes size or bone age is the most objective measure), there's been a drop off of centile in the past few years as most peers on the norm charts progress through puberty & there's a family history of 'delay' then you'd probably be able to offer some reassurance there's yet to be a spurt.
TBH, Anon - you've been to the doctor, he said nothing to be done but wait & see. There's always a possibility but beyond that there's not really any more advice you can be given?
If you wanted to calculate a genetic 'target height range' for the son of someone with your parent's heights, which is the confidence interval:
- Add 13cm to your mother's height
- Average with your father's
- 10cm range either side of this
So a lower bound of just below 5"7 would be within "normal"? My maths might need checking...
Based on this, if I were in your situation I'd perhaps try & prepare for the possibility of not growing any taller, but obviously anything is possible.
<Disclaimer - this is TSR, all advice is unprofessional. The above might be entirely fictitious, no responsibility is taken for... etc etc.>
TBH, Anon - you've been to the doctor, he said nothing to be done but wait & see. There's always a possibility but beyond that there's not really any more advice you can be given?
If you wanted to calculate a genetic 'target height range' for the son of someone with your parent's heights, which is the confidence interval:
- Add 13cm to your mother's height
- Average with your father's
- 10cm range either side of this
So a lower bound of just below 5"7 would be within "normal"? My maths might need checking...
Based on this, if I were in your situation I'd perhaps try & prepare for the possibility of not growing any taller, but obviously anything is possible.
<Disclaimer - this is TSR, all advice is unprofessional. The above might be entirely fictitious, no responsibility is taken for... etc etc.>
Reply 4
Meh. Live with it.
I'm 5'5" and all my mates are at least 5'10". So's my dad. And all my male relatives.
Its really no big deal in the long run.
I'm 5'5" and all my mates are at least 5'10". So's my dad. And all my male relatives.
Its really no big deal in the long run.
lol.. i know someone OP in your exact position.. in fact.. i think i know who you are :P coz i was talking to you about 2 hours ago about this same topic.. well unless you have the same birthday... height.. family..
or maybe its just a coincedence
Well either way, don't give up.. theres always hope i guess .. i've known people who had late growth spurts so yeah its not impossible i guess.. just keep drinking a lot of milk and maybe..you never know
or maybe its just a coincedence
Well either way, don't give up.. theres always hope i guess .. i've known people who had late growth spurts so yeah its not impossible i guess.. just keep drinking a lot of milk and maybe..you never know
Reply 8
you are who you are.. if your 5 7 then your 5 7. Its just a fact of life. Dont let it bother you. If your worried about it in terms of girls, maybe initially it could put us off, but what really matters is who your are. Im a tall girl, and ideally id like a tall guy, but ive bin with shorted guys, because i like them.
Plus you could still grow some. So stop worrying about it and enjoy yourself!
Plus you could still grow some. So stop worrying about it and enjoy yourself!
Reply 9
Elles
The onset of puberty is very relevant when considering growth (though in itself has a genetic component too), the fastest growth velocity occurs at ~Stage 4 for males, then tales off. So if a patient presents with concerns about their height - along with checking general health, pubertal status is vital - if it's not started or very early stages (testes size or bone age is the most objective measure), there's been a drop off of centile in the past few years as most peers on the norm charts progress through puberty & there's a family history of 'delay' then you'd probably be able to offer some reassurance there's yet to be a spurt.
TBH, Anon - you've been to the doctor, he said nothing to be done but wait & see. There's always a possibility but beyond that there's not really any more advice you can be given?
If you wanted to calculate a genetic 'target height range' for the son of someone with your parent's heights, which is the confidence interval:
- Add 13cm to your mother's height
- Average with your father's
- 10cm range either side of this
So a lower bound of just below 5"7 would be within "normal"? My maths might need checking...
Based on this, if I were in your situation I'd perhaps try & prepare for the possibility of not growing any taller, but obviously anything is possible.
<Disclaimer - this is TSR, all advice is unprofessional. The above might be entirely fictitious, no responsibility is taken for... etc etc.>
TBH, Anon - you've been to the doctor, he said nothing to be done but wait & see. There's always a possibility but beyond that there's not really any more advice you can be given?
If you wanted to calculate a genetic 'target height range' for the son of someone with your parent's heights, which is the confidence interval:
- Add 13cm to your mother's height
- Average with your father's
- 10cm range either side of this
So a lower bound of just below 5"7 would be within "normal"? My maths might need checking...
Based on this, if I were in your situation I'd perhaps try & prepare for the possibility of not growing any taller, but obviously anything is possible.
<Disclaimer - this is TSR, all advice is unprofessional. The above might be entirely fictitious, no responsibility is taken for... etc etc.>
Thank you for all that information. : ) According to family members, cousins etc. they had a late growth spurt. So I'm hoping it will be the same for me as I've never really had a 'spurt' whilst most people I've known have. Yeah I've sort of already prepared for the possibility of not growing anymore, but I just hope I'm wrong lol.
dumbdunc- thanks n_n
Dac_10- lol isn't the average height in the uk something like 5ft10? but thanks for trying to help mate.
qubog- thanks, I hope so. : )
Rei- lol that is weird. Unless if you're my mum then I don't think I'm that guy as this is the first time I've posted anything personal on the internet. Thanks for the support and advice though.
cabbage- I kind of let go of thinking about my height when I'm out, but then when I'm in a crowd starring up amongst all the tall people it kind of gets my mind back on it. It doesn't help either that practically all my mates are 6ft lol. But thanks.
I'd just hang out with friends roughly the same height as you; that way you won't get the heightist jabs at you every time.
Trust me, it does have a cumulative effect, and you never are seen as an alpha male, no matter what your character is like. Therefore > far less women interested in you + no respect from "mates".
It's all very well when others are saying "fact of life", "live with it", "short guys are great", but notice they aren't the ones experiencing prejudice simply for what they are. Consistently.
At least with friends around your height (couple of inches either way makes no difference), at least you'll get support if someone takes the piss, and you'll never get "jokes" aimed at you regarding your height.
Trust me, it does have a cumulative effect, and you never are seen as an alpha male, no matter what your character is like. Therefore > far less women interested in you + no respect from "mates".
It's all very well when others are saying "fact of life", "live with it", "short guys are great", but notice they aren't the ones experiencing prejudice simply for what they are. Consistently.
At least with friends around your height (couple of inches either way makes no difference), at least you'll get support if someone takes the piss, and you'll never get "jokes" aimed at you regarding your height.
Anonymous
Thank you for all that information. : ) According to family members, cousins etc. they had a late growth spurt. So I'm hoping it will be the same for me as I've never really had a 'spurt' whilst most people I've known have. Yeah I've sort of already prepared for the possibility of not growing anymore, but I just hope I'm wrong lol.
dumbdunc- thanks n_n
Dac_10- lol isn't the average height in the uk something like 5ft10? but thanks for trying to help mate.
qubog- thanks, I hope so. : )
Rei- lol that is weird. Unless if you're my mum then I don't think I'm that guy as this is the first time I've posted anything personal on the internet. Thanks for the support and advice though.
cabbage- I kind of let go of thinking about my height when I'm out, but then when I'm in a crowd starring up amongst all the tall people it kind of gets my mind back on it. It doesn't help either that practically all my mates are 6ft lol. But thanks.
dumbdunc- thanks n_n
Dac_10- lol isn't the average height in the uk something like 5ft10? but thanks for trying to help mate.
qubog- thanks, I hope so. : )
Rei- lol that is weird. Unless if you're my mum then I don't think I'm that guy as this is the first time I've posted anything personal on the internet. Thanks for the support and advice though.
cabbage- I kind of let go of thinking about my height when I'm out, but then when I'm in a crowd starring up amongst all the tall people it kind of gets my mind back on it. It doesn't help either that practically all my mates are 6ft lol. But thanks.
no. well its 5ft 9.8
but put it this way, if you want to go into some high security government jobs you have to be below 5ft 10. not to mention that apart from the female aspect of height, i dont really see any downside, ive come across a few 6ft6'ers and it doest help them any in a fighting situation. plus anything over 6ft 1 is measurably correlated with a decrease in life expectancy. think how hard your heart has to work to pump blood all that way up and down! btw im not some short ass who has digged all this info up to make myself feel better 
this was discussed on bodybuilding forum a while back and probableys 80% of them say if you want a good looking physique in their terms i.e. in proportion etc, [5ft].just for further clarification if you didnt get that, Jean Claude Van Damme is in fact 5ft 8. would you say he has problems? lol.
hope that helps
lol sorry op mate, i must be getting you confused with my friend then.. and yeah, ToysRUs, that's a very good point.. but i doubt the op would just start hanging around with shorter guys to avoid getting jokes thrown at him.. so you prefer he ignores his tall mates?
Think its a bit stupid actually..
Think its a bit stupid actually..
Dac_10
no. well its 5ft 9.8 but put it this way, if you want to go into some high security government jobs you have to be below 5ft 10. not to mention that apart from the female aspect of height, i dont really see any downside, ive come across a few 6ft6'ers and it doest help them any in a fighting situation. plus anything over 6ft 1 is measurably correlated with a decrease in life expectancy. think how hard your heart has to work to pump blood all that way up and down! btw im not some short ass who has digged all this info up to make myself feel better this was discussed on bodybuilding forum a while back and probableys 80% of them say if you want a good looking physique in their terms i.e. in proportion etc, [5ft].
just for further clarification if you didnt get that, Jean Claude Van Damme is in fact 5ft 8. would you say he has problems? lol.
hope that helps
but put it this way, if you want to go into some high security government jobs you have to be below 5ft 10. not to mention that apart from the female aspect of height, i dont really see any downside, ive come across a few 6ft6'ers and it doest help them any in a fighting situation. plus anything over 6ft 1 is measurably correlated with a decrease in life expectancy. think how hard your heart has to work to pump blood all that way up and down! btw im not some short ass who has digged all this info up to make myself feel better this was discussed on bodybuilding forum a while back and probableys 80% of them say if you want a good looking physique in their terms i.e. in proportion etc, [5ft].just for further clarification if you didnt get that, Jean Claude Van Damme is in fact 5ft 8. would you say he has problems? lol.
hope that helps
Hmmmm i never knew that ..
Reply 14
I don't often get these jokes, but occasionally they do come up (although it hasn't recently). Even more, people often think I'm over 20, so that just makes me look like a little midget lol. I have friends of all heights; in fact one of my best mates is same height as me. But almost everyone I know/see are taller lol so it's hard to find people that are shorter (although that's not exactly what I want). Thanks for all the replies, they've been very supportive.
Seriously, 5"7 is not that short at all, it's not like you're freakishly short or anything, it seems you have a problem with what your peers have said to you, but it's unfounded, really.
In any case, character can compensate for lack of height, if that is what how you wish to view it. I remember a friend's grandmother who was a fearsome and dominant woman, yet when she died, everyone was surprised by how small the coffin was, because her character had made her seem a much "bigger" person than she physically was.
In any case, character can compensate for lack of height, if that is what how you wish to view it. I remember a friend's grandmother who was a fearsome and dominant woman, yet when she died, everyone was surprised by how small the coffin was, because her character had made her seem a much "bigger" person than she physically was.
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