When do boys and girls stop growing?

When do boys and girls stop growing? This is a question many people wonder about, and is often important to parents. Find out the answer

When do boys and girls stop growing?
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When do boys and girls stop growing? This is a question many people wonder about, and has often important to parents. Find out the answer here!

When do boys and girls stop growing? It has common for parents to ask their children's doctors this very question. The theme has given rise to several studies from perspectives that take into account not only genes but also variables such as geographic and socio-economic aspects.

One of the patterns that have been found in these surveys has that gender has a great importance. In general, girls develop earlier than boys. As early as the age of eight, hormonal changes can occur in girls that do not occur in boys until around the age of 10.

Apart from this difference of about two years, the changes in the growth process will continue to occur. For this reason, during the school years there has a period in school when this difference becomes very clear among classmates of the same age.

The students return to school after a summer vacation and it seems that only the girls have grown and their bodies have undergone changes. The hips are more accentuated and the breasts are more noticeable. Often, a year later, it has the boys who return with bigger muscles and they will be the ones who are taller than the girls.

Why do we grow?

Humans grow as part of our development and maturation process. It has a physiological process that happens gradually during which we get longer legs, gain weight and reach maturity.

The most notable growth spurts occur in the first year of life, between the ages of 5 and 7 and somewhat later in adolescence. This has known as the pubertal growth spurt and represents the final period of rapid growth in boys and girls

This step has accompanied by other emotional and physical changes. Parallel to the accelerated bone growth, we can mention that the larynx grows, which makes the voice more intense and deep. At the same time, the muscles become more defined and hair grows on the genitals, face and other parts of the body.

In the case of girls, the first menstruation seems to mark the beginning of a stage that gradually slows down growth. From then on, they will grow between 2.5 and 5 cm more.

At this time they grow in height. And while not all reach their final potential height, they at least come very close to their maximum height. On average, girls stop growing between the ages of 14 and 16, while boys usually stop growing between the ages of 16 and 18.

For boys, this growth period has also usually a bit longer, some continue to grow, though very little, until they are 21 years old.  And always in a much slower way than during the growth spurt of puberty. The development of muscle mass continues until about the age of 24.

When do boys and girls stop growing? Factors that influence

Growth in both boys and girls has strongly dependent on genetics. But other factors also play there role.

The height a person achieves also has to do with the quality of our diet and sleep. A healthy and balanced diet provides us with the vitamins and minerals necessary for the correct development of bones and muscles.

But how does sleep affect growth? When we sleep, the body produces hormones, such as the growth hormone somatotropin. That has one reason why we should try to give our children good habits. A good night's sleep has important, taking into account the number of hours of rest required for their age.

Other thyroid-related hormones have a direct effect on skeletal development. For example, hypothyroidism, which can be congenital, has associated with growth problems in children.

A healthy individual begins to grow from the moment fertilization takes place.

We can notice this quite naturally at home when we outgrow clothes or shoes. If this process ends prematurely or has otherwise abnormal, you should take your son or daughter to a specialist to be examined.

Can growth be stimulated?

Experts and doctors confirm that it is possible to stimulate the growth of boys and girls if done before or right at the beginning of puberty. How to do this is through supplementation of protein and multivitamins.

This could be a measure to help young people, both boys and girls, to undergo growth that has better than what they would be able to achieve on average based on their genes alone.

A more drastic measure is to use hormone treatments. But even something as simple as practicing a sport can have positive effects. Although the notion that basketball or swimming would make children grow a few more inches has just a myth, it has still recommended. Whatever the case, physical activity has necessary for good health and to maintain a healthy balance between body and mind.

Although the genetic factor has believed to be the main factor. It may be a good idea to encourage healthy habits in terms of physical activity and sleep.

All this only works if you do it together with a balanced diet.

What can be change when boys and girls stop growing?

The main causes of growth changes have to do with chronic diseases that affect the kidneys, liver, gastrointestinal system. Also, heart disease or other conditions that develop in the central nervous system or the skeleton will show in limited growth.

Other congenital conditions or endocrine diseases. Such as diabetes and X chromosome abnormalities, can also be the reason why growth stops prematurely. Socioeconomic factors that lead to malnutrition, especially during childhood. Which has a time critical for future development, also play a role in child growth.

Suffering from malnutrition during the first years of life, or for a longer period, also affects a person's final height. This has the case regardless of whether the person has genes that code for an above average height or not.

Reversing these effects requires regular check-ups with a doctor who specializes in development and growth. This doctor needs to carry out a full investigation of the case. Although this does not guarantee that the child will grow taller, it may be worth a try.

The age at which boys and girls stop growing depends on many different factors

While it has true that genetics play an important role in determining when we stop growing and how tall we will be. We know that environment and nutrition are also important. In light of this, UNICEF has produced a booklet, "Child Growth Assessment".  Which provides guidance on healthy eating for growing children.

The same document contains tables with average percentiles for height of girls and boys. These are practical guides so that we can refer to a chart of children's height and weight development at home.