Where have all these giant children come from?

[CredulousThickos]

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?

Perhaps it is just confirmation bias, and if DS2 grows up tall I'll start noticing all the stumpy kids instead

I think I live on the wrong place. My DS is nearly 15 and 5ft 9 and towers above most of his friends some of whom haven't even hit 5ft yet. DD is 11 and 4ft 9. I'm 5ft 8 and by far the tallest of my friends who average about 5ft 2

I was one of the tallest at school by a long way (I'm 5ft 10) but loads of the girls in my son's year are already taller than I am, and they haven't finished growing. (I don't know about the boys so much, all of DS1's friends are girls...)

Yes the land of the giants. Used to be easy to get jeans, tracksuit bottoms etc for shorties. Getting harder and harder to find the elusive 27in. Shops that I have been in for years no longer stock shortie jeans.

Hormones in GM food cause people to be taller

Evidence please

Isn't it down to better nutrition?

I'm 5ft 9 & DH 6ft 1 but we both were not tall children & had late growth spurts so hopefully my average height 3 yr old will be the same.

Hormones in GM food cause people to be taller.

Ok, no. So I'm assuming that's meant to be funny (deadpan doesn't come across well via text..)

GM foods don't contain hormones. You're confusing two issues - GM foods and growth hormone in animal products.

Firstly, meat in Europe does not contain added growth hormones (in the USA, yup, itcan but not here.) best hope TTTP never gets in place or we will have them too.

Secondly, GM crops are crops. Plants. They don't contain human hormones. They have a variety of genetic modifications such as extra vitamin A, or To make them drought resistant or to be resistant to certain pesticides.) they don't contain human hormones (that would be totally useless for a plant.)

There are plenty of things you can criticise about GM crops (terminator seeds for example) but they don't contain human hormones in any way shape or form

As you were.

Me = 5'3

DH = 5'5

DS = 5'11

DD = 5'11

But like you, OP, I've wondered where this Race of Giants has come from and if they will ever stop or if every generation will get bigger and bigger .

doesnt it also depend on the dominant ethnicity where you live? Idk, I haven't noticed the tall thing. I feel awkwardly tall at 5'6, and I can't even count the amount of ppl who have told me so.
I know statistics say people have been getting taller but I've more noticed just ..larger in the other direction

It's nutrition, basically.

The only time I've ever felt fall is when I lived in wales... 😁

Future generations tend to be taller because they tend to be better fed than the previous generation was.

However, I also wonder how much of the difference today is down to the growth hormones and other additives in our food?!

What are "terminator seeds" Anatidae, my little Ducky-daddles?

Im 5ft 4 and stopped at t h at height when I got to 13. My dh is 6ft 1 and stopped growing at about 17/18 ish. My ds turned 13 in May and is now about 5ft 10 and still going! He was a long baby and had always been one of the tallest in his year at school, but I don't think his height is actually that unusual from what I see. Loads of kids round us seem to be very tall, I've kinda got used to being a short star now😁

DS is 14 and 6 ft 3 - towers over his dad (5 ft 11) and me (5 ft 6). It's tricky to buy trousers that don't sit above his ankles. He's like a bean poke at the moment - all legs and arms as he still hasn't filled out yet, but I have to buy at least X large tops in shops to get the arm length. He's also size 12-13 shoes and needs an extra wide fitting that usually has to be ordered.

DD is 12 and I expect she will overtake my height quite soon. The youngest does not have as long legs as the other two, so not sure if she'll shoot up in the same way.

It can depend on who your DC mix with. DS1 plays rugby and looks around average with his team mates. He is actually above the 91st centile for height and has been wearing adult clothing since he was 13.

Whilst, in general people are becoming taller, it's not true of all. Despite similar genetic material, ours range from 4'11" to 6'5".

My boys are 18 and 15, and they're 6'0" and 6'2" respectively. My husband is only average, 5'10", but I'm on the tall side, 5'8."

People have historically gotten taller as they've evolved; people think of Napoleon as a short man, but he was actually average height for the day, which is slightly below the average height for men now.

I think it's diet related on two fronts:

1. Children who are well nourished with a varied, healthy and plentiful diet will likely be taller on average than those with less nutrient rich diets.

2. Children who are overweight or who are eating the kind of diet that will lead to them being overweight in the future also tend to be over tall.

We have far more children in both groups 1 and 2 than we used to.

My orthorexic 14 (not far off 15) year old is 4ft 10. My ridiculously fussy and faddy 10 year old is 4ft 3. My 3 year old is a healthy eater in both quantity and quality and is 3ft (still under average I think but not what you would call very little). I'm only just over 5ft myself and have been anorexic since my teens so, in my family at least, poor diet definitely seems to affect height.

My ds is 14 and over 6ft and in a size 13 shoe, uniform shopping is fun as he's also built like a rugby player.

My brother is 6ft 7.
I'm 5ft 5, ds's dad is 6ft 2.

He's grown 4 inches over the summer!

I'm 35 and 6ft. My mum is 5ft 11 and nearly 70.

It's not just children that are bigger, younger people in general seem to be taller and more robust. I am not saying 'fat' - these people are solid, although there a lot of cuddly ones too.

Victorians were tiny compared to people these days.

My DD is 3.4 she's on the 9th centile for height, 3rd for weight and is by far the littlest in her nursery class. Her good friend is 1 day younger than her, towers above her and is 8kg heavier than her. She's already worried about being the smallest in the class.

Each generation is taller than the next. It's partly diet. Also children are in general heavier and therefore taller, and reach puberty earlier so reach adult height younger.

I was 5'8" at 11 and the tallest in my year.

However, DH's father was 6'8". DH is one of 4 brothers, 3 of whom are 6'5" nigh on, the shortest is 6'2". My nephews and niece range between 6'4" and 6'1" (my neice being the shortest)...they are all under 15. Some families are tall!

I dear the same fate for my two, there are tall genes on my side as well.

My mother is 5 ft 2", I am 5 ft 7" and my 14 year old daughter is 5 ft 10". We are all (well I'm not sure about my mother in her hey day but now they are all shrinking it is) average amongst our friends. While my mother was a great cook in the 70's I have always assumed it was better nutrition. Plus genes. My mother and I married men taller than our fathers.

Genetics. We've made 6 footers since the end of the 19th century