orang.utan said:I am 16, and I am about 5'3" or 5'4" (it seems to vary)
I've been about that height since age 14 1/2. I take a
vitamin, I eat well, but I'm not growing any! My sister is
still taller than me even. My parents are 5'9" and 5'2".
Could there be anything that has interupted my growth?
It's hard to say based on this alone. You may have reached
your adult height. Most boys tend to grow slowly throughout
their adolescence, often continuing into their early 20s,
but the increment after the age of 16 or so may be small.
There is much individual variation.
I reached my final height before my 14th birthday, as I
recall. The same influences that can cause you to grow very
quickly can also cause your bones to fuse early, stopping
growth. Girls grow very quickly before menarche but they
stop growing relatively early; boys grow more slowly and
later but continue growing for a longer period.
A good indicator of adult height is an estimate based on the
height of parents. Your father is average; your mother is 1
SD below the mean. So you may finish 0.5 SD below the mean
for men, or about 5'8". This is very approximate, though.
Only time will tell. The heights of other family members
might give you hints as well.
At your height, there isn't really anything wrong, even
though you might be shorter than you'd like to be. My guess
is that you'll grow a bit more and then stop, although a
late spurt cannot be excluded. Have you already had a period
of very rapid growth in recent years?
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