# What factors affect height? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 25, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032 "2011-08-25T13:30:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/21 "2011-08-26T06:04:36Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Hey, you’re one of the lucky ones. I’m fully grown, and while not a bad height (6’) I’m a full two inches shorter than my dad and three inches shorter than my little brother. > > WTF happened? I can empathize. I’m 5’ 10 1/2". My father is 6’ 4", and my mother is 5’ 9". Heck, my sister is 5’ 10". WTF happened, in my case, was recessive genes. My maternal grandmother was a just over 5’ tall, with short arms and legs. I inherited her build – as my aunt, who has the same sort of build, notes: “you’re built like Yoda, too!” ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/22 "2011-08-26T06:15:13Z")
I’m like the OP only more so. According to the formula I should be 5’1" and I’m actually 5’8". I’m also at least 5 inches taller than any other female member of either side of my family. Genetics is a funny, funny thing. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/23 "2011-08-26T11:25:47Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > See post#5. > > One exception is based on altered _prenatal_ environment, such as from placental insufficiency or poor prenatal nutrition leading to a child who is small for gestational age at birth (SGA). Typical middle class adequate nutrition from birth on is enough to place them at risk for obesity and they are at risk of metabolic syndrome at lower BMIs than more typically sized babies, but they will still typically end up an average of [almost 4 cm shorter](http://journals.lww.com/pedresearch/Abstract/1998/06000/Prediction_Factors_in_the_Determination_of_Final.15.aspx) as adults. 10% of those with SGA will end up below the 3%ile without intervention ([growth hormone works well](http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/124/3/e519.full) for the group that does not have catch up growth by age two). > > That said, other prenatal factors that lead one monozygotic twin to be [larger at birth](http://www.atypon-link.com/AAP/doi/abs/10.1375/twin.7.5.421) and during the first 6 months compared to its twin, may prime for later obesity risk in adolescence and young adulthood, but not for any difference in height. Ah, didn’t see the studies you posted about vegetarianism the first time round. They do seem to support my guess. Even the studies that you say showed increased height _associated_ with vegetarianism didn’t seem to produce particularly significant results in that direction - the first one found the vegetarians were roughly 0.1 inches taller than they were expected to be? Even though it’s only set over a one year period rather than the entire childhood, surely that’s not statistically significant. The study’s conclusion didn’t mention it either. I think nowadays a child would have to be eating a pretty radically bad diet for it to noticeably affect their height. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/24 "2011-08-26T13:16:03Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > I’m like the OP only more so. According to the formula I should be 5’1" and I’m actually 5’8". I’m also at least 5 inches taller than any other female member of either side of my family. > > Genetics is a funny, funny thing. Genetics is life’s ultimate craps shoot. Mia Farrow is 5’2" tall, while both her parents and all her brothers and sisters are tall. She thinks her stature is the result of having childhood polio. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/25 "2011-08-26T14:20:48Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Genetics is life’s ultimate craps shoot. > > Mia Farrow is 5’2" tall, while both her parents and all her brothers and sisters are tall. She thinks her stature is the result of having childhood polio. Well yes. Just like craps over a large number subject to very good statistical modeling but poor at being to say with absolute confidence what will happen on a particular roll. On average 35 out 36 times you won’t roll snakes eyes in craps over a large number of rolls, but any particular roll you can. The vast majority of the time a child will end up between their parents height percentiles, rarely too far outside that range, but any particular individual can be an outlier. [Still](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1718044/pdf/v081p00257.pdf), even not accounting for variation in parents’ percentiles > [@](#): > > … 90% of children’s height SDS values fall within 1.5 SD of their mid-parental height SDS … the mean diverence in parental heights is 14 cm. … children’s heights are more accurately related to parental heights when the latter are adjusted for regression to the mean. Actually a pretty poor study … measuring at a prepubertal age, 8-9 yo, does not allow for the highly significant effect that early or late puberty has on end height and they ignored the variation in parental heights as a factor to analyze. But it is the only study I can find actually proving that the original “rule” by Tanner has empirical validity. ---
**Author:** ![rhubarbarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eb9ed0/32.png) [@rhubarbarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rhubarbarin)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/26 "2011-08-26T15:05:56Z")
I have a friend who was very premature baby (only 1 lb at birth) who is 4’9" with a tiny frame, in an average-height and size family. Usually though it seems premature babies catch up in every area. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2011, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/27 "2011-08-27T08:13:29Z")
> [@anon11](#): > > My mum is 5ft 9 and my dad is 5ft 10. Wow. I could have written that exact same post, and I’m also 6’3. (Well, at least in clothing. I measure 6’2" at he doctor’s office.) ---
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/28 "2011-08-29T16:42:33Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Going over to the growth charts your mother is about 98%ile height for women. A male that percentile is about 6 foot 3 inches. You really are consistent with height on your mother’s side. > > No exercise is not much of a factor. And the health/nutritional effect on femur growth is actually very early in life. What is percentile height? How early in life does nutrition have an influence? I ask because I was a very fussy child. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/29 "2011-08-29T17:06:49Z")
> [@anon11](#): > > What is percentile height? “Percentile” means “what percent of the population do you outscore”. If you’re in the 98th percentile for height, it means that you’re taller than 98% of the population. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/30 "2011-08-29T21:54:38Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > “Percentile” means “what percent of the population do you outscore”. If you’re in the 98th percentile for height, it means that you’re taller than 98% of the population. To add, perhaps unnecessarily, for your gender. So like your Mom you are taller than 98% of others of your gender. You take after your Mom’s side in height more than your Dad’s. ---
**Author:** ![chowching](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@chowching](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowching)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/31 "2011-08-30T13:20:39Z")
Maybe you spent a lot of time sleeping. I think I’ve read it somewhere that an hgh is released during sleep. ---
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/32 "2011-08-30T14:39:59Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > No exercise is not much of a factor. And the health/nutritional effect on femur growth is actually very early in life. Don’t know about the answer re food fortification. How early in life does nutrition have an influence? I was a very fussy eater as a child. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/33 "2011-08-30T19:40:30Z")
bump ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/34 "2011-08-30T20:03:19Z")
> [@anon11](#): > > How early in life does nutrition have an influence? I was a very fussy eater as a child. > > Thanks Well it’s already been pretty much answered. Malnutrition and poor health can have a signficant adverse influence, and the secular trends to increased height up until the 50’s were a reflection of improvements in those realms, but given a basic modern American diet and health care, being a fussy eater not likely. ---
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/35 "2011-08-30T20:05:58Z")
thanks. At what age is nutrition important? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/36 "2011-08-30T23:38:22Z")
The earlier the more the potential impact. See post #18 for the impact of the prenatal equivalent of poor nutrition, placental insufficiency, on growth. A fetus not getting adequate nutrition, because the placenta cannot deliver it, will be born smaller than expected for how far along in pregnancy they are. IOW if full term they will be the size of a premie and if premature the size of a much younger premie. And there are significant lasting effects on future growth and metabolism from that circumstance. ---
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/37 "2011-09-10T09:14:44Z")
I am a twin though. So you would think I got less nutrition, in the pre-natal stage, as it had to be shared. My twin is 1 inch taller btw. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/38 "2011-09-10T11:23:59Z")
anon11, there is no reason to think that there is anything environmental which is making you (or your twin) significantly taller than might be expected from your genetic background. You’re slightly taller than might be expected on average from that genetic background, but you’re well within the normal spread of heights. Don’t worry so much. Also, it’s no big deal if you’re still growing a little bit in your early twenties. That happens occasionally. Mention it to your family doctor next time you see him. There are occasionally certain rare medical conditions that could be indicated by growth as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![ticker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d07c76/32.png) [@ticker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ticker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/39 "2011-09-10T13:37:12Z")
I am 5’8", i.e. quite ordinary, but I am 3" taller than the next tallest in my family who range from 5’5" down to 4’11". I am nowhere near being a vegetarian. In fact I have always been a ‘fussy’ eater and it is probably fair to say I have the worst diet of my family. The only reasonable conclusion I think you can draw from this is that it is dangerous to assign too much significance to a single outlier datum, especially when that outlier is oneself. ---
**Author:** ![anon11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@anon11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anon11)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032/40 "2011-10-20T09:37:49Z")
Okay, last post on this topic. I still find it strange that my twin is the same height as me, considering we are nonidentical. Does this mean we grabbed the same genes? Is it because we grew up with the same diet and environment? I also wonder if a child that is fed multivitamins every day would grow taller. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-factors-affect-height/594032.md?page=3)