DH and I are both above average — 6’ and 5’8”. My sister is 6’1” and DH’s brother is 6’4”. But not a single woman on DH’s side is taller than 5’2”. We are on track to have three girls shorter than me. Oldest is done growing and she’s 5’71/2”

That 1/2 is relevant to this thread. At 12.5, all doctors told us she was done growing. She had a wrist x-Ray for a sports injury. Totally fused. She started her period at 10.5.

When she was 13 she had a hip x-ray. Ortho says she might have some additional growth left. Sure enough, she grew another half an inch. Way after any usual indicator would say so.

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.

If mom is tall (like you) and dad is short (like your DH) is very likely that a DD would be shorter than both parents and a DS taller than both parents. Men are generally 5 inches taller than women so if your DD took after her dad she could have been 5’2”. I think your eldest is more of an exception

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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If short women are so concerned about their child's height why didn't they marry taller? What did you think was going to happen marrying a short man?

Valid question.
It behooves us all to set expectations accordingly.

No it isn’t valid. OP and spouse are pretty average heights. Does anyone ask this of the >6’0” men who marry the 5’0” women and expect to still have tall sons? No, no one does.

Because you never see men freaking out about this.

OP, get a second opinion. 14 seems really young to be done growing but we’re all just guessing here. It’s worth pursuing. Height isn’t everything but it does matter especially for a male.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If short women are so concerned about their child's height why didn't they marry taller? What did you think was going to happen marrying a short man?

Valid question.
It behooves us all to set expectations accordingly.

Not sure why it needs to be repeated over and over, but OP said the DH is 5’8, which is not particularly short for an American man (only slightly below average). And OP is 5’3, which again is not particularly short for an American woman (again, only slightly below average). In fact, OP and her husband are both exactly one inch below the average height, meaning they are the same height when accounting for gender (female height is ~5 inches below the male height equivalent). Since their child is a boy, his expected height would be 5’8. If he is in fact done growing (I can’t speak to that part, as I don’t know much about growth plate closure and its reliability for predicting the end of growth), he is 5 inches shorter than his average predicted height based on genetics. That is pretty significant, and worth investigating, as there might be a biological cause.

+100

Clearly the boy does not have tall genes, but 5’3” really would be a very unexpected outcome and is definitely worth investigating. The parental mid-point calculation for him would be 5’8” (plus or minus two inches in either direction). 5’3” is quite far off of this and this parent is correct to be concerned.

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

I know some very successful short men. All white and asian

Of course there are. People have to be awfully simple minded if they think height controls anything except some athletes and models.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If short women are so concerned about their child's height why didn't they marry taller? What did you think was going to happen marrying a short man?

Valid question.
It behooves us all to set expectations accordingly.

Not sure why it needs to be repeated over and over, but OP said the DH is 5’8, which is not particularly short for an American man (only slightly below average). And OP is 5’3, which again is not particularly short for an American woman (again, only slightly below average). In fact, OP and her husband are both exactly one inch below the average height, meaning they are the same height when accounting for gender (female height is ~5 inches below the male height equivalent). Since their child is a boy, his expected height would be 5’8. If he is in fact done growing (I can’t speak to that part, as I don’t know much about growth plate closure and its reliability for predicting the end of growth), he is 5 inches shorter than his average predicted height based on genetics. That is pretty significant, and worth investigating, as there might be a biological cause.

+100

Clearly the boy does not have tall genes, but 5’3” really would be a very unexpected outcome and is definitely worth investigating. The parental mid-point calculation for him would be 5’8” (plus or minus two inches in either direction). 5’3” is quite far off of this and this parent is correct to be concerned.

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

I know some very successful short men. All white and asian

Of course there are. People have to be awfully simple minded if they think height controls anything except some athletes and models.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If short women are so concerned about their child's height why didn't they marry taller? What did you think was going to happen marrying a short man?

Valid question.
It behooves us all to set expectations accordingly.

Not sure why it needs to be repeated over and over, but OP said the DH is 5’8, which is not particularly short for an American man (only slightly below average). And OP is 5’3, which again is not particularly short for an American woman (again, only slightly below average). In fact, OP and her husband are both exactly one inch below the average height, meaning they are the same height when accounting for gender (female height is ~5 inches below the male height equivalent). Since their child is a boy, his expected height would be 5’8. If he is in fact done growing (I can’t speak to that part, as I don’t know much about growth plate closure and its reliability for predicting the end of growth), he is 5 inches shorter than his average predicted height based on genetics. That is pretty significant, and worth investigating, as there might be a biological cause.

+100

Clearly the boy does not have tall genes, but 5’3” really would be a very unexpected outcome and is definitely worth investigating. The parental mid-point calculation for him would be 5’8” (plus or minus two inches in either direction). 5’3” is quite far off of this and this parent is correct to be concerned.

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

I know some very successful short men. All white and asian

Anonymous wrote:I would get a 2nd opinion asap and try to start the aromatase inhibitor if you can find someone to prescribe it. Did the endo read the bone age and compare it to the book? Most endos do their own reading of bone age X-rays. The Dr my kids see pulls out the book and looks at various points and sometimes agrees and sometimes differs from what the radiologist said. Qualifying for growth hormone treatment is not an easy process so the aromatase inhibitor can buy you some time. There is an online tool that can do a reading of the bone age for you, easy to find with an google search. Also lookup the Magic Foundation as they have many resources.

I agree that the x-ray was performed to determine bone age - did you get a bone age reading for your son? I don't think these x-rays are used to determine whether growth has stopped altogether. For example, my daughter is in early puberty and the x-ray determined determined her bone age is about 1.5 years ahead of her biological age. Our endo then compared her height (for which she's like 60th percentile for her age) to the chart for kids of her bone age (for which she's like 10th percentile for height) to predict her adult height. Obviously this is still just a prediction, we'll have to wait and see. Since her adult height is close to the height of her paternal female relatives, we decided to not intervene (after considering pluses and minuses.) In our case, I'm 5'5" (about 60th percentile for a US woman) and DH is 5'6" (about 10-15th percentile for a US man), so it's not really a shocker.

I would for sure to the following:
- get the bone age from the endo
- see if you can get the bone age from the radiologist
- get a 2nd opinion because I think your endo is crap either way

I don't think you should try to get anything prescribed until you follow up on this, because there's a lot of confusion right now.

Also, for others on this thread- there's a 4 inch difference in average height between men and women. A 5'6" woman is tall, a 5'6" man is short. How is this so hard to understand?

I would get a 2nd opinion asap and try to start the aromatase inhibitor if you can find someone to prescribe it. Did the endo read the bone age and compare it to the book? Most endos do their own reading of bone age X-rays. The Dr my kids see pulls out the book and looks at various points and sometimes agrees and sometimes differs from what the radiologist said. Qualifying for growth hormone treatment is not an easy process so the aromatase inhibitor can buy you some time. There is an online tool that can do a reading of the bone age for you, easy to find with an google search. Also lookup the Magic Foundation as they have many resources.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If short women are so concerned about their child's height why didn't they marry taller? What did you think was going to happen marrying a short man?

Valid question.
It behooves us all to set expectations accordingly.

Not sure why it needs to be repeated over and over, but OP said the DH is 5’8, which is not particularly short for an American man (only slightly below average). And OP is 5’3, which again is not particularly short for an American woman (again, only slightly below average). In fact, OP and her husband are both exactly one inch below the average height, meaning they are the same height when accounting for gender (female height is ~5 inches below the male height equivalent). Since their child is a boy, his expected height would be 5’8. If he is in fact done growing (I can’t speak to that part, as I don’t know much about growth plate closure and its reliability for predicting the end of growth), he is 5 inches shorter than his average predicted height based on genetics. That is pretty significant, and worth investigating, as there might be a biological cause.

+100

Clearly the boy does not have tall genes, but 5’3” really would be a very unexpected outcome and is definitely worth investigating. The parental mid-point calculation for him would be 5’8” (plus or minus two inches in either direction). 5’3” is quite far off of this and this parent is correct to be concerned.

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

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an 8 year old girl who is 5 feet tall. It profoundly affects her socially and emotionally. So much sympathy for you. We have her in therapy to talk through it and to work on self image. My approach - with advice of therapist - is to try things that become her “thing.” She is too young for tall girl team sports, so we are doing things like theater and climbing.

She can definitely do track and basketball right now.

Regardless, your family seems to be having an oversized reaction to your kid being tall.

Not everyone who is taller than average wants to play basketball or run. Team sports aren’t for everyone. At our school basketball for girls is not popular like basketball for boys.

My daughter was 4’9” at 8 years old so 5’ is.not freakishly tall.

Yes, but the PP said her 8 year old DD was too young for tall girl sports, which is not true. Basketball is a wonderful sport to play at any age.

It’s fun but being in games where they score, are aggressive, and there’s pressure isn’t for a lot of people.

Unfortunately big business has ruined the fun and 70% of kids who played quit early.

Anonymous wrote:

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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.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

They all do matter but to see two separate groups in the same country with vast differences in height show how much genetics play in height.

If you look up height calculators, almost all predict the son to be 5'8". Obviously there is variation but to be off by 5" with little to no chance of additional growth (per the endo) is surprising. Not sure why some posters can't see that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have an 8 year old girl who is 5 feet tall. It profoundly affects her socially and emotionally. So much sympathy for you. We have her in therapy to talk through it and to work on self image. My approach - with advice of therapist - is to try things that become her “thing.” She is too young for tall girl team sports, so we are doing things like theater and climbing.

She can definitely do track and basketball right now.

Regardless, your family seems to be having an oversized reaction to your kid being tall.

Not everyone who is taller than average wants to play basketball or run. Team sports aren’t for everyone. At our school basketball for girls is not popular like basketball for boys.

My daughter was 4’9” at 8 years old so 5’ is.not freakishly tall.

Yes, but the PP said her 8 year old DD was too young for tall girl sports, which is not true. Basketball is a wonderful sport to play at any age.