Does it sound like I have an average-sized torso but short legs?
It might be worth noting that I had breathing problems and pneumonia as a baby and had to be in the NICU.
Apologies if my stats muscles are out of practice here.
If the “expected” is 5’ 9", and as you note, 5’ 5" is two standard deviations below expected, a height of 5’ 5" or less would occur about 2.3% of the time, assuming a normal distribution.
Three standard deviations or more below the expected (and I’m not sure what exact height would be 3 SD below) would occur in about 0.13% of cases.
Assuming that 3 SD is a height that’s even shorter than the OP’s 5’ 2", we’d be looking at a probability of somewhere between, I’d suspect, 0.2% and 1%. So…unlikely, but absolutely not unheard of.
As I noted upthread, there are studies which indicate that premature birth, and even illnesses for preemie babies, tend to not strongly correlate with lessened height for an adult. Generally speaking, if the once-preemie baby is healthy, overall, once they are no longer an infant, and out of the NICU woods, they tend to catch up; again, “tend to” and “not strongly correlate” are the operative terms here, and none of that is absolute, either way.
But, what does have some correlation is whether the height of the preemie at birth is significantly less than the normal height for a fetus at that same term.
I did say I was so small I didn’t even register on the height chart.
I was 4’11 in 8th grade and had a growth spurt, but only 1 and only 2 inches and at 14-15. I think I had an early puberty, about 10-11 in 5th grade.
Yeah, as I always tell my discrete math students when we discuss probability: It is by definition always improbable that improbable things will happen. But it is impossible that improbable things will never happen.
Yes:
One simple physical exam finding suggestive of a skeletal dysplasia is the sitting height to height ratio. Looking it up for a white man it is typically 0.48 to 0.56. Much higher is suspicious for a dysplasia. Easy thing to measure!
Stocky build, which your measurements describe, is also consistent.
Also looking it up, hypochondroplasia tends to have short broad hands and feet. The SHOX deficiency one pretty normal size.
I was about the same, give or take an inch. Throughout grade school, I was always among the shortest two or three boys in my class. I was late into puberty (only hit it in 8th grade), and had two growth spurts, the later of which when I was 16 or 17.
I’m not sure exactly how old you are, but boys and girls in the U.S. both hit puberty earlier now than they did 30 or 40 years ago; 10 is now the average age for a white boy to start puberty.
In that case, the OP might seriously want to consider leg-lengthening surgery if their stature bothers them this much.
It would be painful, invasive, and expensive (likely considered cosmetic), but the OP’s build might make them a good candidate for this.
I guess what I wonder is what difference the cause makes for you?
Okay. So no really late growth spurts are on the way. Gotcha.
Were you malnourished as a child?
I am not him but medically IF it is caused by hypochondroplasia then there is a known risk of spinal stenosis which can become emergent. A good baseline exam would be important, and knowing what to look out for. Genetic counseling if planning to have kids. Growth Hormone deficiency can persist into adulthood and if present would suggest other endocrine evaluation. So on.
Beyond that there is for lots of people the same relief with having a name for something that some feel when they get an ASD or ADHD label, even if they don’t actually do anything different as a result.
I don’t really remember what my height was like in elementary school. I didn’t feel that much shorter than anyone. At least, not abnormally so. I think I was about the same height, maybe a bit shorter.
Honestly, most of my time in elementary school was me having meltdowns.
My mom says I had a 6 pack when I was a little kid.
I remember this one kid was about the same height as me or slightly taller in 8th grade, only for him to be over 6 feet tall in 12th grade.
I remember this girl being about my height or a bit shorter in 8th grade, only for her to be taller than me in high school.
I’m a woman, 5’2" and everyone in my family is tall. I was told in my 30’s (!) that I looked like I had a genetic malady, maybe Turner syndrome, and they were surprised I got pregnant. (so was I, lol). I was advised I shouldn’t have any more children, one and done. She is now an adult, 5’8" but she can’t have children (two miscarriages) due to the same genetic condition I apparently passed on to her. ? no one is sure if it isn’t just a random thing. I never looked markedly different from anyone else, though no beauty queen, normal functioning, normal periods, it was a complete surprise to learn I had something amiss.
FWIW I just threw your story as a case into the medical AI, Open Evidence. It does note that unusually diminished length at birth, along with the rest, raises some specific possibilities higher, including ACAN and NPR2 variants. New to me. The first is good to know because there are certain orthopedic concerns that might be able to handled proactively. Its bottom line is that a skeletal survey is a reasonable and cost effective place to start but a:
skeletal dysplasia gene panel with adequate SHOX/enhancer coverage (or a panel plus dedicated SHOX MLPA) is increasingly favored as a single-step approach, with a combined diagnostic yield likely in the 40–50% range for this clinical presentation.
It is not a replacement for seeing an expert!! But if you show up at one with your sitting height/height ratio in hand, and your story, there is a reasonable possibility that you would be able to have testing that gave you an answer, which possibly could be of more value than just knowing. Or not.
Let us know what you end up deciding to do.
How tall could I have been?
IF, and that’s a big if, a work up leads to a diagnosis of one of the conditions listed in my posts, then early childhood identification and treatment could impact by 5 to 8 cm, roughly 2 to 3 inches, more or less depending on the exact diagnosis with current treatment protocols.
Do the sitting height to height ratio thing. Talk it over with your doctor.