Female, was tall and went through puberty early. Am 5'7'' and thin-ish as an adult. I spent a lot of my adolescence feeling HUGE and I am sure that contributed to an eating disorder in my early 20s.

Husband was taller until ms then become a shorter guy at 5'8'' when he tapped out and others kept going. Not short though.

Son has always been a little tall. Is 5'10'' in hs and that's probably it for him. So he's tall-ish for a 10th grader but will be average in the end I think. Same trajectory as DH but taps out early.

My nephew was the shortest kid in his class through ninth grade. His parents aren't very tall and everyone was worried he would be really short. But then the summer after 9th he started to grow. He didn't grow fast but kept growing for the next 3 years and ended up at 5'9". Taller than his parents and siblings.

Anonymous wrote:I am short. 5'4" short. I hate it. I was average height in elementary school, maybe on the taller side. There were shorter kids than me. They ended up being shorter than me. Progression was similar.
There was a short boy, who ended up being really tall. The rest of us were just on the same curve the whole time.

You’re not short you’re average. What do you want to be a giant? That’s a great height. Not so short that you can’t reach anything, not so tall that you tower over everyone. To me between 5’4” and 5’7” is the sweet spot for women.

Anonymous wrote:Similar idea as the post about tall children. If you were consistently small in elementary school, did you end up a short adult?

Yes and yes.

Short, tiny, frail little girl- always the shortest in class (although an entire year younger than classmates). Literal late bloomer with late puberty (14) and hit full adult height of nearly 5’5” by 15.

(Putting my stats out here only because it’s kind of funny to me now: 38E, 130, fit with 22 BMI. 55, 4 pregnancies, post menopausal)

Anonymous wrote:I was always the shortest. Ended up 5’7’’ I just kept growing after everyone stopped.

This was my DD. She was consistently 25th percentile for height all the way through childhood but just kept growing until 16 (after most of the other girls had stopped). Ended up 5’7”. At her 11yo ped appt she was 4’8”. She has always been very skinny/small framed though, and that hasn’t changed.

I am short. 5'4" short. I hate it. I was average height in elementary school, maybe on the taller side. There were shorter kids than me. They ended up being shorter than me. Progression was similar.
There was a short boy, who ended up being really tall. The rest of us were just on the same curve the whole time.

Midgets beget midgets

I always wanted to be taller than what I am. It didn't happen so the next best thing is to work with what you have. My short stature is linked with my Crohn's Disease it can affect your height. So being the youngest and only one with this and my siblings being taller than me makes sense. There are also other patients with Crohn's that are short like me. My consultant is very sympathetic when we see her. They didn't know originally that it affected patients heights. The thing is these examination beds don't go down as low as the hospital beds. So when we are asked to get on the bed to be examined we have to use a step just to boost us abit. I always try first buy even in tip toed I'm just abit short. By the way I'm 4'9 and children come up to me siding if they are taller. Well yes they are...

No. I was often the shortest kid in my class for many years but now as an adult I am average-to-slightly-above-average height (5'5" woman).

Part of it was that I was and still am very small all over -- just a very lean frame. If I'd shot up taller when I was little I would have been painfully skinny. I didn't really get my height until puberty and at that point I had a bit more bulk (still not a ton but a lot more than when I was 7) so while I was still pretty petite I wasn't rail thin.

I have a DD who has a similar build to me and she recently went through a growth spurt at 8 and we get comments on how thin she is (which I shut down). She's healthy and growing with no body issues but just shot up two inches when she didn't have much weight to spare for that extra height. I'm hoping she fills out a bit more before she gets taller!

Yep and yep, I was a short child and didn't grow no taller than 4'11. My daughter is 5'5 and my son 5'8. I always knew I was going to be short so no big deal..

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:5”4 is an average height for women. Why is that something that’s controversial?

It's not unless you think facts are optional.

It's because it doesn't take genetic background into consideration and that’s what people are comparing themselves against. I'm 5'4. For every country of my heritage (white, Northern European) the average height is 5'6 to 5'7, so 5'4 is short. Sure, the average female height in Nicaragua is 5'1, so maybe 5'4 is tall! But people compare themselves most directly to people who look like them. The US is extremely heterogenous so you get a lot of extremes that play into that average but it might feel like that doesn't apply to you. It goes in both directions.

wtf. This is the US, so people compare themselves to those they see around them every day, which includes people of all races. Unless you are a racist who only hangs out with other people from Northern Europe.

Do they? That's weird to me. I really only compare myself to people who have similar genetics. I have a very diverse friend group but I would only really evaluate myself vs other people pretty similar in background.

Anonymous wrote:I was extremely short in elementary but didn't get my period until I was 14...allowing me to grow longer...I'm still short (5'2) however just less so in comparison to other perite women

This is me except I’m 5’3.

I was always the shortest. Ended up 5’7’’ I just kept growing after everyone stopped.

Yes! I was always the shortest in my entire grade and am only 4'11" as an adult.