# Worried about my nephew's height **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 8, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206 "2016-08-08T23:55:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/21 "2016-08-09T06:14:00Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > He’s fifteen, he can see a GP, and would probably prefer to. And if there’s a potential pituitary problem that GP will recommend a specialist. But 6’1" isn’t incredibly unusual for a 15 year old. My youngest was taller than every kid in every class until he reached 15, and then he stopped growing and most boys were taller than him when he graduated high school. I’ve never seen a 15 year old as tall as he is. He towers over all of his classmates and his family. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/22 "2016-08-09T06:15:20Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > How tall are his parents? One parent is 5’ 10" and the other is 5’ 8". ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/23 "2016-08-09T06:17:18Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > He is in the [97th percentile](https://mygrowthcharts.com/Plot_Quick.aspx?enc=t1UokqBZlNwbihA6vKP*jOGOHvhZcPcgA5A!ABVtLxo!IZTUha!Ge9Tbkh!5XSt5rPIQnlkfqPL5FvT3P186!3dIAfUUoNPjqI4jfjgpJt5yUWqdb19vitP8zEUfXZxF) (I entered his age as 15 1/2). The fact that he still falls within the growth chart means that he’s not exactly sideshow material (no offense intended). > > If his parents are concerned they should set up an appointment with a \*\*pediatric \*\*endocrinologist. They would do a bone scan - a simple x-ray of the hand - to look at his growth plates and determine how much more growing he has left to do. He may, in fact, be pretty much done. > > If the scan indicates there is still a good amount of growth left and he has not completed puberty, they might do a growth hormone suppression test to see if he is secreting too much growth hormone. This is a several hour test that involves a series of blood draws. > > This is an extremely rare condition, though. He is almost certainly merely a tall dude. > mmm Thanks. I will suggest this to them. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/24 "2016-08-09T06:18:19Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > 6’1" at age 15 is not abnormal. If he’s otherwise healthy, it’s nothing to worry about. > > **And it’s his parents’ job to deal with it.** Wow. Shame on me for being worried. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/25 "2016-08-09T06:22:34Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > One parent is 5’ 10" and the other is 5’ 8". Better nutrition and stuff can account for 3 inches taller than his tallest parent. And the roll of the genetic dice. The GP - Endocrinologist route seems like the wisest course to me. My nephew was short for his age group. Both of his parents were short. Nephew was in the 3 percentile. Some xrays and a specialist and then he was prescribed HGH and he’s now a 5’6" adult, which is certainly not tall, but not a crippling short height. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/26 "2016-08-09T06:27:41Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Ask [Robert Wadlow](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wadlow), the Alton Giant. Oh, wait, you can’t, because he died in 1940. At 8’11.1", he was the tallest person who ever lived. Yes, he was an extreme example, but his height definitely had an impact on the quality of his life. He died very young. I get where the OP is coming from, because my son is not even ten (his birthday is in October) and he is 5’1. He’s a head taller than the rest of his class in school. We’re not terribly worried, though, because his father is 6’2, and was always a head taller than everyone else all through school, until partway through high school. When all the shrimps had growth spurts, and grew 8 inches in 1 year, my husband never did. He just kept growing his usual 1.5 - 2 inches every year, and stopped growing at 18, when some people were just starting-- some people grow until they are 22. So the boychick will probably do the same thing, and end up 6’2 or 6’3 (DH’s father was 6’3), and not the 6’8 he’ll be if he has a six inch spurt at age 16. Where is nephew in regard to puberty? does he still look like a little kid, or does he have a beard and gorilla legs? Once the secondary sexual characteristics set in, growing is mostly done. Also, in most newer cars, the seats rise up and down. Don’t yours do this? ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/27 "2016-08-09T06:35:26Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > My nephew was short for his age group. Both of his parents were short. Nephew was in the 3 percentile. Some xrays and a specialist and then he was prescribed HGH and he’s now a 5’6" adult, which is certainly not tall, but not a crippling short height. I had a friend whose son was prescribed that. His parents are not tall-- his father is 5’7, and his mother is 5’3, but two of her sons were in the 50th percentile, and one was in the 50th at birth, but kept slipping. At 5, he was in the 3rd. From ages 4 to 5, he only grew 1/4 of an inch. A hand x-ray showed that he wasn’t growing properly. HGH got him into the 50th percentile very quickly, and there he stayed. He is not going to be tall-- he will be in the 5’6-5’8 range, and probably so will his brothers, but without the HGH, he would be a pituitary dwarf, the one kind of dwarfism that is curable. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/28 "2016-08-09T06:41:46Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > it’s his parents’ job to deal with it. Parents spend so much time with their children that unusual things can seem like the norm. It’s okay for a friend or relative to mention something as long as they’re reasonable about it. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/29 "2016-08-09T06:58:18Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > I’ve never seen a 15 year old as tall as he is. He towers over all of his classmates and his family. Juanjo, one of my classmates was the shortest boy in his 9th grade picture. Tallest one in our 10th grade picture, towering over Sixto (who was already 1’80m - 5’10") at 1’90 (6’2") with his hair smooshed down (this was important, he had fat curls); Sixto ended up getting another couple inches, Juanjo didn’t. Asking the doctor about it is a good idea, but he may just be an early developer. I had a classmate who needed to shave in 8th grade (same as his brothers), that whole family were finished growing by age 13. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/30 "2016-08-09T09:58:48Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > I’ve never seen a 15 year old as tall as he is. He towers over all of his classmates and his family. Coincidentally I know a 15-year-old who is 6’3". Nobody, including me, is concerned about it (except that he acts like his height is a personal accomplishment that he had something to do with). mmm ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/31 "2016-08-09T10:23:46Z")
I also knew a kid that seemed to have some freak growth spurt early when we were still in Elementary school he had reached 6’2’’ but the strange part is he never got any bigger its like he reached his adult height so early and quickly and then just stopped. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/32 "2016-08-09T11:42:22Z")
I don’t think 6’1" is all that unusual in a 15 year old boy. Cripes, just a while ago, someone had a thread about getting plastic surgery done on a little girl’s prominent ears. People just can’t accept kids the way they are now? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/33 "2016-08-09T11:50:36Z")
So, what is the make/model of the car won’t he fit into? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/34 "2016-08-09T12:33:17Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > I’ve never seen a 15 year old as tall as he is. He towers over all of his classmates and his family. Just out of intellectual interest, I have to ask whether “I have never seen” in your mind trumps the actual information people are offering that it’s not unusual. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/35 "2016-08-09T12:58:35Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > I’ve never seen a 15 year old as tall as he is. He towers over all of his classmates and his family. I’m sure his parents have noticed his height. You can bring it up politely with them, but don’t make it sound like a problem because it’s not unless a doctor determines that it is. Your only concern would be if he doesn’t see a doctor annually. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/36 "2016-08-09T13:02:06Z")
If something was wrong with him you would know by now. There would be more symptoms than just “he’s super tall”. Besides, there’s a lot you can tell just from his body. How does he carry his height? is it all in his legs? his torso? What’s his weight? Is he a Manute Bol string bean? Does he have a lot of weight to him offensive lineman-style? How does he walk? Does he stumble over everything and sprain his ankles constantly? Does he seem to glide on his shoes? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/37 "2016-08-09T13:10:36Z")
I had a friend who was 6’4" in 8th grade (so 13?). Topped out at about 6’7". I reached my full adult height around 15 or 16. Of course that turned out to be 5’6". ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/38 "2016-08-09T13:21:53Z")
My brother was 5’9" at 13, and now in his 40s, he’s still 5’9". There’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Assuming he is healthy, being really tall can have big advantages. Hopefully he enjoys sports – if he has any athletic talent, he could go far in basketball, tennis, or many other sports. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/39 "2016-08-09T13:36:59Z")
I wouldn’t sweat it. Unless his parents are unusually tall, it’s likely he just hit his growth spurt early. That’s what I did- I was 5’6" in 7th grade (13), 5’9" at the beginning of 8th grade (14) and about 6’0.5" at the end of 8th grade (still 14). I grew another half inch over the course of high school, ending up just shy of 6’1". For parental comparison, at the time, my dad was 6’3", and mom was 4’11". (Dad’s since shrunk due to old age). In comparative terms, I went from being in the top 20-25% of students in 8th grade to being literally 3rd or 4th tallest. Other guys I knew started high school at like 5’6" and hit their growth spurts at about 16, and ended up the same height as me, but did all their growing in high school. And I’ve heard tales of men getting out of high school at 17, and getting their growth spurt roughly during boot camp, and coming home for the first time like 5" taller than when they left. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206/40 "2016-08-09T13:48:47Z")
In my son’s U15 AFL team I manage there are three boys who are 196cm (6’5") and one who is 203cm (6’8"). Some are solidly build, some are gangly. My son is 165cm (5’4"). I believe they are all the same species. The Big Bird is exceptional but all teams in the competition have multiple 194cm+ tall players [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worried-about-my-nephews-height/762206.md?page=3)