Can boys really be done growing at 15?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have three boys. Anecdotally, most of their friends were done growing right around 16. Some stopped growing more around 14. All three of them were done growing in height by 15-16.

+1

I have two boys and agree with this. The majority of boys finish growing at 15-16. A smaller group of early bloomers finishes at 13-14, and another smaller group of later bloomers grow past 16. But for most boys: done at 15-16.

One of my sons was a late bloomer (at 14, had barely started puberty- weighed maybe 90lbs) and even he was mostly done growing by his 16th birthday (grew extremely quickly between 15 and 16). Picked up 1-2 inches from 16-17 then done. These stories about boys growing in college etc are true, sure- but extreme outliers. Not common these days

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is 16 and almost all his friends are under 5'10." I'm so curious if they'll stay these heights or keep growing. They seem unusually short---I'm thinking of at least a dozen boys.

It does seem unusual they would ALL be under 5'10". It seems there is such a wide range of height at that age. For example, DS' friends' height in his friend group probably range from 5'3" to about 6'3". They are all 14 or 15.

NP here. I thought 5’10” was around average height…is it really considered short now?

5'9" is average height for men in the U.S.

depends on your ethnicity

https://www.medicinenet.com/height_men/article.htm

Just under 5'10" for non-Hispanic whites, which is the tallest of the listed subgroups... so 5'9"-5'10" is not short for an American man.

[Anonymous]

Most people male or female are done growing by 16 the next group by 18. Some a little later but this is generally related to late puberty or a hormonal dysfunction.

[Anonymous]

I suspect my 14.5 year old might be done soon. He's supposed to be his dad's height and is 2" shorter, so guessing that he'll reach that sooner than later.

He had an elbow injury earlier this year and based on those x-rays, the ortho said his growth plates are wide open and still time to grow, but I don't know how reliable that is vs. the hand x-rays that seem to be more definitive of growth time.

[Anonymous]

Growth curve for boys https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/set1clinical/cj41l021.pdf
You can follow the 50th percentile (or any percentile) and see that it continues going up after 16 and even after 18. Obviously, not for everyone, these are estimates based on summaries from a given sample. But it's not true that most boys stop growing at 16 or even that "many" stop growing at 14. (PP whose boys stopped growing at 14 - how old are they now? If they're like 17 now, they may still have another spurt.)

Compare this to the growth curve for girls and note how much faster the girls one flattens https://www.cdc.gov/growthcharts/data/set1clinical/cj41l022.pdf There's barely any change after age 17 for girls.

[Anonymous]

My son is 17. He's had spurts and stops. His doc assumes he's stopped growing too (he's 5'11"). But people in my family anecdotally tell me they kept growing until they were 20.

I don't care how tall my son will be. I do want to know if he's stopped growing so I can decide whether or not to invest in higher quality pants or shoes. I assumed he was still in transition but doctors think they stop when there's been 1 year of no discernible height growth. But maybe it could be a pause?

[Anonymous]

I picked up my daughter from 7th grade and I couldn’t believe how short most of the boys were. Some were the same height as the average girl in their same grade but most of them were much shorter than the girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have three boys. Anecdotally, most of their friends were done growing right around 16. Some stopped growing more around 14. All three of them were done growing in height by 15-16.

+1

I have two boys and agree with this. The majority of boys finish growing at 15-16. A smaller group of early bloomers finishes at 13-14, and another smaller group of later bloomers grow past 16. But for most boys: done at 15-16.

One of my sons was a late bloomer (at 14, had barely started puberty- weighed maybe 90lbs) and even he was mostly done growing by his 16th birthday (grew extremely quickly between 15 and 16). Picked up 1-2 inches from 16-17 then done. These stories about boys growing in college etc are true, sure- but extreme outliers. Not common these days

As opposed to 40 years ago? Gtfoh

[Anonymous]

At my kid's high school, the difference between the 9th graders and the 10th graders is substantial. So 15-16 sounds right to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I picked up my daughter from 7th grade and I couldn’t believe how short most of the boys were. Some were the same height as the average girl in their same grade but most of them were much shorter than the girls.

This is normal. I was the tallest person in my class, and looked like a giant, through 8th grade. I’m 5’7” now. I was probably 5’5” by 12.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I picked up my daughter from 7th grade and I couldn’t believe how short most of the boys were. Some were the same height as the average girl in their same grade but most of them were much shorter than the girls.

This is normal. I was the tallest person in my class, and looked like a giant, through 8th grade. I’m 5’7” now. I was probably 5’5” by 12.

NP here. This tracks with my son's growth. PP was taller than he at 12 but now at 14, my son is 6' and still growing. I think in general, girls mostly are done growing before boys mostly even start. At least that's my observation from having an older girl and a younger boy.