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Original poster

Where have all these giant children come from?

218 replies

CredulousThickos · 31/08/2017 20:30

And by children I mainly mean young teens.

I am a short arse at five foot two and a half. But growing up I was about average among my peers, with maybe one or two who were 'tall', which would still be under six foot.

My teens are 13 and 15 and roughly my height. The vast majority of their mates are MASSIVE. Two of DD's friends are over six foot, the rest shorter but still much taller than DD, and all but one of DS's circle are. He is actually the shortest kid in his year.

My much younger brother is 6'4 (he's 23), whereas all three of us sisters (early to late 30s) are my height or shorter. Same parents, btw, so not that.

Is this just confirmation bias or are the next generation taller in general?

I was used to being on the lower side of average but now I feel like a proper short arse.

Is it me or has anyone else noticed this epidemic of height?

OP posts:
DrHorribletookmycherry · 31/08/2017 20:33

My exh is 6'4". I am 5'7". My 11 yearold is already taller than me. She far from the tallest of her friends. Actually the shortest of her close friends Confused

mumoffiv · 31/08/2017 20:36

Hormones in GM food cause people to be taller.

Kerantli · 31/08/2017 20:36

I'm not exactly short (5ft 8 on a good day), but DS1 is already chest height on me at 10, and DS2 is only a couple inches shorter than DS1, their father is only an inch or two taller than what I am.

However, most if not all my dads side of the family are 5ft 9 and over, most men being 6ft 3 to 6ft 5 so expecting both DS's to be 6ft+ before they reach the end of their school years

TroysMammy · 31/08/2017 20:37

I'm just under 5ft and seeing teens out and about I've thought recently "they weren't that big when I was in school". I left in 1986. To be fair I grew up in South Wales and the Welsh are known to be shorties but this generation are huge.

hazeyjane · 31/08/2017 20:37

We are a family of shortarses. I am 4' 11", dd1 is on the 25th centile, dd2 on the 9th, ds is under the bottom line! It's like living in the land of the giants round here.

Original poster
CredulousThickos · 31/08/2017 20:39

So it's not just round here. Hmm.

Do you think it's evolution or summat? Or as mumoffiv says, something in the water?

OP posts:
TheNotSoGoodWife · 31/08/2017 20:39

I am 5ft10 and am the shortest of about a dozen of us who grew up together -in the 70s!

So far a few of dc1's friends (16ish) are taller than me but none of dc2's yet (14ish). Dc2 has just started the teen growth spurt so I expect to be overtaken in the next year!

That said, I don't feel particularly tall out and about.

HairNinja · 31/08/2017 20:40

Population height is increasing, the average has gone up a couple of inches I think over the past few decades.
Great for me, I used to tower over most of my friends. I'm looking forward to my children getting taller than me, I can feel delicate and elegant instead of large and clumpy.

PortiaCastis · 31/08/2017 20:40

I'm 5'8" and dd is 5'10" at 18 so think she's stopped growing now.
Oh her arse of a father is 6'4"

LondonNanny90 · 31/08/2017 20:41

I'm 5"11, my boyfriend is 6"2 but the majority of people seem to be tiny! Very rare that I meet a man taller than I am, and I've only ever met one woman taller than me. I want to meet more giants!

TresDesolee · 31/08/2017 20:41

I've definitely found myself thinking this. Lots of the girls in DS1's year (just going into Y10) are heading towards 6ft.

I've just come back from a posh holiday resort with lots of rich families and their teens were absolutely Amazonian as well as gob-smackingly gorgeous. It was like holidaying with another species.

I do wonder whether better nutrition has something to do with it - they're the five-a-day generation I suppose

Gingersstuff · 31/08/2017 20:42

My son is 13 and hitting 6' Confused

zzzzz · 31/08/2017 20:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

ReinettePompadour · 31/08/2017 20:42

DH is 6ft tall. His df is 5ft 6 so he is 6 inches taller than his dad but his sons (my ds too) are between 6ft 4 and 6ft 6. The youngest is expected to be 6ft 7 according to his chart in his red book.

Im 5ft and my dm is 4ft 9 and df is 5ft 2. In my maternal line we have the giantism gene with several shorter cousins (4ft 8/9 height) having children who are in excess of 6ft 5 for the boys and around 5ft 10 for the girls.

My ds are around average height for their friends and I wasn't unusually short at school. Maybe short people hang around with other short people and tall people hang around with other tall people?

expatinscotland · 31/08/2017 20:42

I am only 5ft., 4in. DH is 5ft, 9in. DS is already 5ft tall. He's 8. My dad is over 6ft and DH's mum is 5ft, 11in with her dad's side mostly very tall. DD2 is normal height. DS was even a big baby, his sisters were over 2lbs lighter than he was at birth.

YellowLawn · 31/08/2017 20:44

it's partly diet & exercise and partly genes.
children who have a good varied diet with plenty of protein, run around like madthings, tend to be taller than the estimated height calculator.
how tall were your dc as toddlers? double the height at 2y is one of many indicators.

hiccupgirl · 31/08/2017 20:45

I've found this too OP.

I'm 5'3.5' and while I've never been tall, I didn't ever feel short until about 5 years ago when I noticed all the teenagers were way taller than me. My DS at 7 is only a foot shorter than me and is on route to be closer to my DB's height of 5'10'. I reckon DS while be as tall as me by 10-11.

Lurkedforever1 · 31/08/2017 20:45

I'm 6'. Both sides of the family are also tall. So I imagine my 'giant' teen dd gets it from her genes. Just like your stumpy dc have your short genes.

sailorcherries · 31/08/2017 20:46

I'm 5'6.5" but my younger sister is 5'11" we were both this height by 16/17 (mid and early twenties, respectively).

DS1 has just turned 7 and he is already 4'5/6ish. DS2 is 3.5 months and on the 75th percentile.

Original poster
CredulousThickos · 31/08/2017 20:47

My teens have been littlies since birth. So I'm not terribly surprised they are shorter than average now.

DS2 is only five though and is the tallest in his class. There's no rhyme or reason to it.

My mum and dad are 5'7 and 5'4 respectively, and my brother was cast from the same mouldy until he hit 15 and the GM affect kicked in he suddenly sprouted. He has stretch marks from how quickly he grew upwards.

It's a head scratcher.

OP posts:
Cynara · 31/08/2017 20:48

Never mind the giant teens and adults! Have you seen the size of toddlers these days? DS is in nursery, he's two. I collected him last week and saw him chatting to an enormous boy who I took to be the (much) older brother of a child in his nursery class; I assumed he was there with a parent to collect the toddler sibling. Turns out he's three and is a member of the class! He's not the only one either, there are a few huge children in that group, they look like they're about five or six. It makes me worry that DS is underdeveloped. I'm a shortarse at 5'3" but his dad is 6'1" so I'm hoping he'll have a growth spurt and end up an average height.

Original poster
CredulousThickos · 31/08/2017 20:48

Hiccup, I love that you value your half inch as much as I do Grin

OP posts:
Amanduh · 31/08/2017 20:49

I'm 5'9 and 31, and usually taller (in heels) than most 'youngsters' in a bar on a night out Smile my friends of the same age are tall too.

happy2bhomely · 31/08/2017 20:50

DS is 16 and 6ft 1
DD is 14 and 5ft 7

I am 5ft 9 but DH is 5ft 7.

The DC stand out as tall among their friends and in their school of about 1200 students. No giants around here!

tinytemper66 · 31/08/2017 20:51

Troy`s mammy I am Welsh [still live here] and am 4 ft 10 in my bare feet! Hello fellow shortie! My husband is 5 10 and my sons are 5 9 and 5 7!