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Children's health

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Original poster

Why are some children taller than others in their class?

138 replies

Fiona2011231 · 14/01/2019 11:08

As you may notice in your own area, some children are (much) taller than others in their class.

Usually, is it because of their genes or is there something that we can learn from so that we can help our own children grow taller?

For example, some say drinking milk helps children taller.

Thanks,

OP posts:
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RiverTam · 14/01/2019 13:55

OP - why are you asking? Why do you need peace of mind? Are you a parent with an unusually tall child? Where are you coming from.

Because a lot of people have taken the time to reply in good faith and yet I can't help feeling you aren't asking in good faith, with your cards on the table.

Original poster
Fiona2011231 · 14/01/2019 14:15

To RiverTam: Your reply was a provocation, so I don't think it is proper. Thanks.

OP posts:
FayFortune · 14/01/2019 14:31

Yes the bendy legs from rickets didn't help. Nor the near starvation a lot of kids grew up with.

No wonder more modern children were on average taller in the Netherlands and UK.

thaegumathteth · 14/01/2019 14:35

Well, my kids drink loads of milk and are both tall so I conclude that yes, drinking milk makes kids taller....

HeathRobinson · 14/01/2019 14:43

I'd say genetics. My tallest dc was my longest baby. My other dc fitted nicely on my lap, fully lying down. This dc's legs had to rest on my body, iyswim.

PickAChew · 14/01/2019 14:51

Are cattle routinely given growth hormones in the Netherlands, or is that just an assumption?

Lweji · 14/01/2019 15:05

The OP has another aspect that I don't think pps have picked up on.
Height of children in school doesn't necessarily correlate with height in adulthood.
Many children grow faster, but then also hit puberty earlier, therefore staying relatively small. Whereas many other children grow more slowly, but hit full puberty later.

In DS's football group, there were a a few boys who were significantly taller than the rest, but the difference became less noticeable the following year. I'm sure they will still be on the tall side, as the very short will probably remain on the short side, but many in the middle will probably outgrow those early tall children.

KittensAndCake · 14/01/2019 15:14

I've often wondered about a correlation between the mother's height and that of the son. Anyone else notice this?

For example, my Dh is 6ft 2, his Dad was only 5ft 10 but his mother was tall for a woman, about 5ft 9. My friend is 5ft 10 (again tall for a woman) her DH only 5ft 11 but her 14 yr old son is nearly 6 foot and still growing 😲

Nearly every tall boy/man I can think of has a taller than average Mum but average height Dad. Is this just coincidence?

holasoydora · 14/01/2019 16:08

What wasn’t proper about RiverTam’s reply? Confused I agree with with it based on what you have said since your OP, which I bothered to reply to.

Bluntness100 · 14/01/2019 16:15

Yes it's genetics, two short parents normally results in a short child and two tall parents normally results in a tall child. Our daughter is five foot eight, and I'm five nine, my husband five 11. She seldom
Drank milk. I often notice with her friends, their height is similar to that of the parents, or one of them.

As if there is one tall and one short parent, it's pretty much luck of the genetic lottery where the child lands, they can take after one or the other, or be a mix of both.

No amount of milk a kid drinks will off set their genetics.

Ontopofthesunset · 14/01/2019 16:15

Of course some children in any one class are nearly 12 months older than some others, so the relative age has an effect too.

I love the idea of large soggy children.

Bluntness100 · 14/01/2019 16:16

Sorry my daughter is five nine and I'm five eight 🤪

SnuggyBuggy · 14/01/2019 16:16

This is an odd feeling thread

ArnoldBee · 14/01/2019 16:18

If you're in the UK you have a red book. In the red book you have centiles and the mathematical equation that fairly accurately predicts your child's height.

FayFortune · 14/01/2019 16:19

Kittens it shows the difference between ma!e and female potential heights doesn't it?

Same with brothers and sisters. I do know a large family with a very short mum and a tall dad where one sister was talker than a brother. Even within that family (with a large variation in height inheritance presumably) mostly the brothers were taller than the sisters. (No one was shorter than the mum though.)

kelper · 14/01/2019 16:22

My mum doesn't drink milk and is 5' 3". My dad does and is 6' 4" (Well he's shrunk a bit in old age)
My sister and I are 5' 8" and 5' 10" respectively, and we both drink milk.
No idea if this helps or not.....

Zoflorabore · 14/01/2019 16:27

I remember my brother telling us he had decided to be a vegetarian when he was 9, I was 10. My dgm was horrified and said he wouldn't grow to be "big and strong"- he's now 39 and 6ft 7" and has been vegetation for 30 years. His dc are all smaller than average!

My ds is 15 and 6ft 2". I'm 5ft 5" and his dad is 6ft 3", he's always been tall and still seems to be growing ( thankfully his feet stopped at a size 14 ) and is the tallest of his friends who vary massively in height.

Zoflorabore · 14/01/2019 16:28

Oops he hasn't been vegetation for 30 years Blush

explodingkitten · 14/01/2019 16:29

Average size of Dutch women has increased by around 8cm sinceWW2. This cannot be explained by genetics. Many believe it is a result of a high dairy diet - and the growth hormones fed to cattle being passed to humans via the food chain.

I'm dutch and I don't believe we actually know for certain why we are the tallest nation on average. IIRC we were one of the shorter ones 200 years ago but there was a lot of malnutrician so that could explain possible maximum height being reached by good nourishment. On the other hand we are closely related to belgians and germans and we are significantly taller. Maybe it is the growth hormones in the milk????

I also wonder if the reason that we're tall also has something to do with the reason why we're so bloody good at ice skating. The olympics in Sochi were almost like the national championship. There is one good canadian ice skater, guess what his origins are?

holasoydora · 14/01/2019 17:51

Were the growth hormones specifically Dutch?

This article suggests a reason may be a cultural preference in the Netherlands for a taller mate, combined with Dutch people having large families.

www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/08/scientists-try-to-answer-why-dutch-people-are-so-tall

If my (tall) children’s Dutch relatives are anything to go by, it sounds fairly accurate. DH has millions of relatives.

BikeRunSki · 14/01/2019 18:02

Interesting discussion. I ha e tall siblings and tall children - dd(7) is taller than some of the 10 year olds in DS’s Y5 class and DS is the tallest in that class. I didn’t go out of my way to give them super healthy diets, more not to give them super unhealthy diets. Both were formula fed from 1 wk/3 wks.

DS is friends with ID twins, where 1 is about 10% -15% smaller than the other, although the smaller twin has a much bigger appetite.

bruffin · 14/01/2019 18:08

GerryblewuptheER
all the really tall boys at dc primary school were beanpoles in year 6, . Now in 20s and are all still thin and 6ft + including ds

MsTSwift · 14/01/2019 18:09

Marry a nice tall man. Dh 6 ft 2 dds both tall and slim job done

cordeliaflynne · 14/01/2019 19:24

Elfinablender I think that there is some evidence that your grandparents nutrition has an effect on your size www.fasebj.org/doi/abs/10.1096/fj.201700017R

bruffin · 14/01/2019 21:14

YMsTSwift
Worked for me.
Im 5,2, from a short family, my dsis is only 4'10.
Dh 6'2 and DS 6ft and DD 5'6