Growth hormone just for extra height for high level junior sports?

[Anonymous]

I can't speak for steroids, but I'm pretty sure HGH must be given by injection and it won't do much once the kid has finished growing and the growth plates have fused. Even though adult athletes like taking HGH, there isn't much evidence it helps adults build muscle and it certainly won't help them grow after puberty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids are growing taller today than in the past, partly because of better prenatal care and generally better nutrition and health. A lot of parents in their late thirties, forties, early fifties never reached their genetic potential for height because their moms were told by their obs to severely limit what they ate during pregnancy so as not to gain weight. I know people whose moms only gained 15 or 16 pounds during pregnancy and then gave birth to very small babies.

People know more about nutrition today and their overall health is better because of vaccinations and antibiotics. When your body isn't fighting off infections and childhood illnesses and you're receiving high quality nutrition on a regular basis, your body can put more of its energy toward growth and reaching your potential.

I must argue that nutrition was much better before 50s in the United States, while less caloric. Vaccination ok, but I can see your point of antibiotics. Even chicken with "no antibiotics" actually does contain antibiotics, hence we are getting antibiotics every day if we eat any kind of meat.

[Anonymous]

Once girls reach puberty and their growth plates fuse, HG will not work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Once girls reach puberty and their growth plates fuse, HG will not work.

What if they use it before the plates fuse? Around 14, 15 when there is still some growth left? How much extra can it add?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't even know where to get something like this, but I both of my teenagers grew 4 inches in approximately 4 months. The boy did it the summer before high school and the girl did it the summer before sophomore year. The girl stopped growing by junior year of high school, the boy has not, but hasn't had a spurt like that again. Both of them are significantly taller than their mother. I (the father) am not tall for a man (but not short, either). The girl is a few inches shorter than I am, the boy is a little taller than she is, but still a few inches shy of me. He is still growing, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So, am I crazy or are the kids in high school taking growth hormones just to be taller for sports? I am not kidding. There are two girls I know who after the age of 15 just shot up in height and they are in a sport where height is important.Not an inch or two, almost a foot! Both looked completely done growing and one was pretty tall as it was. Parents are not tall and she is now hitting 6ft. The other also seemed done growing but is now growing in height and in muscle, but not just regular exercising, like body building huge for a teen girl. The boy is very skinny and way taller than his parents and there are other kids here in this sport who are somehow growing past genetic potential, by a foot or more than their same gender sibling. I can see few inches, but foot taller than Dad's height and in a sport where height is needed? Am I nuts or are parents that crazy these days to give growth hormone just for sports purposes? Yes, I am a busy body and curious if we as a society are that insane.

How do you know that they used growth hormone?

I clearly state that I don't know 100% but that I am suspecting it. Or that I might be nuts. Haven't been nuts about much so far. A girl with both parents under 5'5" hitting 6 feet after 15,16 years old? A Dad handing out 5 pills to his son before the game? Could be just vitamins, I guess. Kid at 15 with a full man beard, like any grown man would envy? When most 18 year olds can barely grow fuzz? As I said, I might be nuts, but I am talking kids looking at enormous college scholarships and rich parents.

I think you need to hang out at a HS, there are some serious beards going on there and some of them are sophomores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't speak for steroids, but I'm pretty sure HGH must be given by injection and it won't do much once the kid has finished growing and the growth plates have fused. Even though adult athletes like taking HGH, there isn't much evidence it helps adults build muscle and it certainly won't help them grow after puberty.

Yes, these are correct. Also, HGH is ungodly expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't speak for steroids, but I'm pretty sure HGH must be given by injection and it won't do much once the kid has finished growing and the growth plates have fused. Even though adult athletes like taking HGH, there isn't much evidence it helps adults build muscle and it certainly won't help them grow after puberty.

Yes, these are correct. Also, HGH is ungodly expensive.

I know that. But some of these junior athletes have foreign parents and have talked about how they can get it cheap, one said in China, her Dad can get it.

[Anonymous]

Yes, you can grow well into your twenties, OP.
And yes, you can grow much taller than your parents, because there are family genes passed down which can skip parents but can be expressed in the aunts or uncles. Unless the entire family has been super short for several generations and you've seen every single one of them... don't assume!

[Anonymous]

My nephew (sister's son) receives HGH by injection because an endocrine disorder results in his body not producing sufficient growth hormone. He is 13, gets daily injections, has been on it of a year and should have began it 2 years ago because his bone plates have started to fuse. Even if he had begun receiving it two years, the most additional height he can hope it will add is about 3 inches - and this is based on his parents being of average height. From what I understand, there is no way the kids OP is referring to could get to 6 feet by using HGH or steroids.

My DH's family is short. His mother and maternal aunt were less than 5 feet. His maternal uncle was 5'2 and married a woman who was 5'3. Yet, one of their sons is over 6 feet tall, one is about 5'8 and the other is about 5'6 (my DH's height). I went to high school with a girl who was 6 feet tall (this was in the 80s) and her sister was 5'5". Their parents were of average height. While uncommon, it's not unheard of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I mean one tall boy is skinny, the rest of the boys are quite bulky as well. I wouldn't say hugely overweight because they are muscular, but my DS is in the same sport and can barely gain weight because how much they train and the other kids are becoming huge, not just height but overall. Heck, not barely gain weight, can't gain weight and is almost 6' tall and considered tiny when both DH and I are taller than many other parents on both boys and girls teams.

A huge amount of this is diet. Teen boys who lift need to eat an absolutely insane amount of calories and protein to build bulk. There is actually a traditional high school kid bulking diet called "GOMAD" --- which stands for Gallon Of Milk A Day (i.e. a gallon of whole milk over and above a normal teen boy diet every day). I don't recommend that, but it gives you an idea of what some boys do to actually add bulk.

DS sounds like he's in the same boat as your kid. He is 14 and 6' 1" and growing fast. This summer, a coach talked seriously to him about gaining weight because he was so incredibly thin. He's been lifting and eating a lot (like 5000 calories a day) since about August 1st, and has gained about 17 pounds in 2.5 months. He still has no visible body fat, but at least now he doesn't look as much like a stick figure because he's added some muscle. He's happy because at this point he sees in the weight room that he's stronger than a lot of the other freshmen on his team (even though he's skinnier).

He does not take steroids or HGH. At that age, you really don't need to --- just eat, lift and sleep whenever possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HG will only give you 1-3 inches. It's not going to make you 6' tall.

Exactly right.

[Anonymous]

No. I know a ton of kids who are really tall, outpacing their parents. My daughter seems to be on track to be taller than us. I've read articles and drs. have said it's the better nutrition, and unfortunately all the growth hormones in our good. Also possibly I think it might be the GMOs. All this messing around with natural food sources has ramifications- drs. have also said it might bring early onset of diseases

[Anonymous]

My cousin is 6'1". His dad is 5'6". His mom and sister are 5'3" and 5'1". No steroids. If you go back a generation, there's an outlier in the family here and there. It happens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wouldn't even know where to get something like this, but I both of my teenagers grew 4 inches in approximately 4 months. The boy did it the summer before high school and the girl did it the summer before sophomore year. The girl stopped growing by junior year of high school, the boy has not, but hasn't had a spurt like that again. Both of them are significantly taller than their mother. I (the father) am not tall for a man (but not short, either). The girl is a few inches shorter than I am, the boy is a little taller than she is, but still a few inches shy of me. He is still growing, though.

My sister went from the shortest girl in her class to the tallest girl in her class in eigth grade. She ended up 5'8". Our mom is Japanese (under 5") and our dad's was average 5'11".

The rest of the sisters are 5'2", 5'4" & 5'5" and grew gradually.

Some kids just shoot up.