height issues

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sometimes kids end up shorter than both parents
I am 5’6” DH 5’7”
19 yo DD 1 is 5’8” finished growing by 15
16 yo DD 2 is 5’3” her final height, got her period 2 years ago and hasn’t grown in the past 9 months, it never occurred to us to consider medical interventions.

5’3 for a girl is very different than 5’3 final height for a boy. In fact my som goes to Children’s endocrinology because he has short stature despite having an average height dad and tall mom. Our Endo there is wonderful though, and has done lots of tests and is following him closely. She said she’d treat any boy with a final predicted height of 5’4 or less with growth hormone shots, so OP is right to feel worried/concerned.

Is that only when the parents are tall? Seems irresponsible to give growth hormones to a boy whose mother is 4’10” and father is 5’5” because 5’4” or less is very reasonable in that case.

Would you mind sharing which doctor?

Oh god, dont PP. Thar poor doctor will be inundated with DCUM moms wanting taller sons

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Did anyone mention ethnicity? Asian men are genetically short. The average height is 5’5” for many Asian countries. Specifically India is 5’6”.

I don't think stating average height in other countries is helpful...presumably OP's son has been raised in the US with some semblance of an American diet.

Genetics, not diet. Japanese people are also genetically shorter.

I don't think genetics exist in a vacuum without other factors at play. Diet, environmental factors, etc impact height. That's why I don't think looking at the average height of a man in another country is really all that relevant.

+1 even within each race, people are taller now than they were 100 years ago because of diet and other environmental factors.

Celiac disease or other environmental factors can make one shorter.

to add...

A perfect example of two groups of the same ethnicity that have different average heights is Koreans. North Koreans are shorter than South Koreans because they lack the nutrition that South Koreans have.

North Korea is extreme in their lack of food and everything else that makes life worth living.


Genetics matter in African tribes who segregate The Dinka tribe in South Sudan has an average height of over 6 feet tall. More than a few are 7 feet tall men. Women are close in height. The citizens in the Republic of Sudan have an average height of 5.5”

Sudan people have had civil wars and genocides for decades. South Sudan is now independent. That’s a huge height difference for all of the Sudanese people even though they have had the same problems.

America is not a tall country.

Indeed, I never stated that only diet matters. I agreed with a PP that genes AND environment AND diet matters.

Only if you live in a country that has famine. Which isn’t the case here.

Anecdotal and not entirely on topic: I do think the heavily fortified foods (vitamin A/D added to milk, flours, cereals, etc) in the US make people slightly taller than they would otherwise be if left to genetics. My DH grew up in another country, much poorer than US. He was never hungry, had enough food, but no processed foods. Just homemade bread, meats, fruits, veggies, yogurt/cheese but no milk. He and one sibling were young adults when they came to US. His youngest siblings came to US when they were 3 and 5. The youngest siblings that grew up in the US are significantly taller than DH and sibling that came when they were fully grown.

The United States is 58th on the height scale of all the countries. A nation of immigrants with all different genetics have put the US in the middle of the pack.

Central Americans, Latinos, Mexicans—yes. Demo has brought height average down in the US

The average height for Mexican men are 5”7”. Women are 5’2” as an average. They aren’t one of the shortest countries. These countries listed below are the shortest and consist of mostly of Asian with some African countries and Guatemala. ..

The top15 countries with the shortest people…
Timor-Leste men average 5’3”, about the same as Laos and Madagascar. Guatemalan men average 5’4.5”, similar to Phillippines men. Men from Bangladesh and Cambodia are both about 5’4.5”, Indonesia, Malawi and Rwanda men are about 5’4” also. India and Vietnam have the same averages with men being almost 5’5”.

We have a lot of immigrants from all of these countries who are very successful. With such a variety of different builds and heights in the US I don’t understand the obsession with being over six feet.

- because women in the US only value men who meet the 666 - standard: six feet or taller, six figure income, and a sixpack stomach.

American women of dating age in 2025 are incredibly shallow.

[Anonymous]

We had the same experience as OP with a son at the same age. We sought a second opinion with a more aggressive doctor and DS is now on growth hormones and aromatase inhibitors. There are no guarantees, but we were willing to take a chance. Seek a second opinion from a more aggressive endo who is will consider that the growth plates in the spine and legs haven't closed yet. Dr. Nick Cuttriss is an option but does not take insurance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had the same experience as OP with a son at the same age. We sought a second opinion with a more aggressive doctor and DS is now on growth hormones and aromatase inhibitors. There are no guarantees, but we were willing to take a chance. Seek a second opinion from a more aggressive endo who is will consider that the growth plates in the spine and legs haven't closed yet. Dr. Nick Cuttriss is an option but does not take insurance.

What are the side effects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had the same experience as OP with a son at the same age. We sought a second opinion with a more aggressive doctor and DS is now on growth hormones and aromatase inhibitors. There are no guarantees, but we were willing to take a chance. Seek a second opinion from a more aggressive endo who is will consider that the growth plates in the spine and legs haven't closed yet. Dr. Nick Cuttriss is an option but does not take insurance.

Did your son grow? How much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the trolls who keep saying “two short parents, what did you expect?”- the OP’s kid has the same genetically expected height as would the son of a 6’0 dad and 5’0 mom (around 5’8). He is far below the genetic expectation, so OP is right to seek medical advice.

So what? I know a son of a 6’0 dad and 5’0 mom who ended up at 5’4”. His brother is 6’1”. some one has to end up at the bottom of the distribution.

True enough. We know parents who are 6’4” and 5’7”- their sons are 6’4” 6’1”ish and 5’7”. Their DD is 5’7”ish. No idea why the youngest son is shorter than the others but he was always shorter, from childhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Plus, everybody knows 5’3” would be a devastating height for an adult man. It is what it is.

It's not a desired height, but it is not devastating. At my former DOJ office, I worked with a guy who is 5'3". He was married to a woman slightly shorter than him, had a good job. Again, I am not saying any guy desires 5'3" as his adult height, but it isn't "devastating."

yeah he managed to land a mate long before SM ruined dating

[Anonymous]

I’m 5’4” and DH is 5’8”. I would be devastated if DS was 5’3”. I’m not sure why your child would stop growing at 14. I have 13 and 15 yo boys who are both 5’8”. Both are still growing.

We know several 14-15yo boys who are waiting for their growth spurts.

We once took our kid to an endocrinologist because we felt like our kid didn’t grow for a year. The doctor spent like 2 min with us and dismissed us. DS grew 6 inches the next year.

[Anonymous]

Our pediatrician told us to double our son’s height when he was two (39 inches). He is now 6’5” at 18 (and possibly still growing), so she was spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did anyone mention ethnicity? Asian men are genetically short. The average height is 5’5” for many Asian countries. Specifically India is 5’6”.

I don't think stating average height in other countries is helpful...presumably OP's son has been raised in the US with some semblance of an American diet.

Genetics, not diet. Japanese people are also genetically shorter.

I don't think genetics exist in a vacuum without other factors at play. Diet, environmental factors, etc impact height. That's why I don't think looking at the average height of a man in another country is really all that relevant.

+1 even within each race, people are taller now than they were 100 years ago because of diet and other environmental factors.

Celiac disease or other environmental factors can make one shorter.

to add...

A perfect example of two groups of the same ethnicity that have different average heights is Koreans. North Koreans are shorter than South Koreans because they lack the nutrition that South Koreans have.

North Korea is extreme in their lack of food and everything else that makes life worth living.


Genetics matter in African tribes who segregate The Dinka tribe in South Sudan has an average height of over 6 feet tall. More than a few are 7 feet tall men. Women are close in height. The citizens in the Republic of Sudan have an average height of 5.5”

Sudan people have had civil wars and genocides for decades. South Sudan is now independent. That’s a huge height difference for all of the Sudanese people even though they have had the same problems.

America is not a tall country.

Indeed, I never stated that only diet matters. I agreed with a PP that genes AND environment AND diet matters.

Only if you live in a country that has famine. Which isn’t the case here.

Anecdotal and not entirely on topic: I do think the heavily fortified foods (vitamin A/D added to milk, flours, cereals, etc) in the US make people slightly taller than they would otherwise be if left to genetics. My DH grew up in another country, much poorer than US. He was never hungry, had enough food, but no processed foods. Just homemade bread, meats, fruits, veggies, yogurt/cheese but no milk. He and one sibling were young adults when they came to US. His youngest siblings came to US when they were 3 and 5. The youngest siblings that grew up in the US are significantly taller than DH and sibling that came when they were fully grown.

The United States is 58th on the height scale of all the countries. A nation of immigrants with all different genetics have put the US in the middle of the pack.

Central Americans, Latinos, Mexicans—yes. Demo has brought height average down in the US

The average height for Mexican men are 5”7”. Women are 5’2” as an average. They aren’t one of the shortest countries. These countries listed below are the shortest and consist of mostly of Asian with some African countries and Guatemala. ..

The top15 countries with the shortest people…
Timor-Leste men average 5’3”, about the same as Laos and Madagascar. Guatemalan men average 5’4.5”, similar to Phillippines men. Men from Bangladesh and Cambodia are both about 5’4.5”, Indonesia, Malawi and Rwanda men are about 5’4” also. India and Vietnam have the same averages with men being almost 5’5”.

We have a lot of immigrants from all of these countries who are very successful. With such a variety of different builds and heights in the US I don’t understand the obsession with being over six feet.

- because women in the US only value men who meet the 666 - standard: six feet or taller, six figure income, and a sixpack stomach.

American women of dating age in 2025 are incredibly shallow.

LOL that’s not what the third six represents…

[Anonymous]

Is your son on any medication? I am convinced Zoloft stunted my son's growth. He stopped growing after taking it at age 14. My cousin has four boys. All are over 6 feet tall except one boy who started taking Accutane just after he turned 14. He is 5'7". He never grew much after age 14.

I think there are several medications that affect final height that if a boy takes at critical times during puberty and growth spurts surpasses final height.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is your son on any medication? I am convinced Zoloft stunted my son's growth. He stopped growing after taking it at age 14. My cousin has four boys. All are over 6 feet tall except one boy who started taking Accutane just after he turned 14. He is 5'7". He never grew much after age 14.

I think there are several medications that affect final height that if a boy takes at critical times during puberty and growth spurts surpasses final height.

There are always medications that have warnings about affecting growth. I took one for a long time when I was a kid - I (female) was expected to be no taller than 5'2", and I ended up 5'7". Parents were 5' and 5'8". My brother is about 5'5"; no idea why I'm taller. DH is 5'8", and DS (16) is 5'10" and still growing - he is by far the tallest person anywhere on all sides of the family, despite taking a med that is assessed to affect growth. I think a lot of this is genetics and a crap-shoot.

But to the OP - I'd definitely seek a second opinion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our pediatrician told us to double our son’s height when he was two (39 inches). He is now 6’5” at 18 (and possibly still growing), so she was spot on.

My siblings and cousins are all over the place in terms of height. So are our kids. I don’t know which one of us is genetically correct. There’s a 9” difference between the shortest sister and tallest sister with a couple in between. My brother is about 4” taller than my father.

What is the point of trying to predict a two year old’s adult height?

[Anonymous]

DH is 6', his brother & his dad are 6'1 & his mom is 5'2". I am 4'10", my dad is 5'5", my mom is 5'1", and my brother is 5'7". My family are overall short & DH's family are overall tall. What are expected height for my son & my daughter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DH is 6', his brother & his dad are 6'1 & his mom is 5'2". I am 4'10", my dad is 5'5", my mom is 5'1", and my brother is 5'7". My family are overall short & DH's family are overall tall. What are expected height for my son & my daughter?

I have a friend whose husband is 6’ and mom is 4’10”. Daughters seem to be taking after the mom. Both girls have always been the smallest in their class.