Does excess/increased weight during one’s (vertical) growth years reduce the height one grows to? If so, by how much?
I can see where the addiitional downwards force on at least the leg bones might impede their growth.
In short (accidental pun) - does width reduce height?
Short answer:yes.
Long answer:
Children who weigh more enter puberty earlier than less heavy children, thus they will be at a shorter height when the adullt hormones kick in and close the epiphyses (bone ends), meaning that may end up slightly shorter than their peers.
Although larger children may have earlier pubertal growth-spurts than their peers, and thus could well be the tallest in their class, by their late teens everyone else will have caught up, and the extra years of bone growth will mean the thinner kids could well end up taller.
You’re talking about maybe 2 or 3 inches here, nothing very dramatic in the most part and a trend only confirmable with growth charts ( and it has been confirmed).