Growth?

[NishR]

Hi all. I'm new here, this is my first post. I know this is called Mumsnet, but I'm a teenager and this post is about my growth. I'm sorry if I'm not meant to have an account here, I'm just a bit curious, and I haven't seen anyone asking any questions of the sort.

I was just wondering, can a few weeks of undernutrition stunt growth in a teenager?

Apologies if this is a stupid question. Here's some background info.

I'm currently 16, 5ft 9. Over the summer holidays I wanted to lose weight so I tried different ways of eating and exercise. I was eating like shit. Not that I was eating a lot, but what I was eating was shit.

At one point I even vomited bile from not eating enough.

For example, one day I would eat some like crackers and cheese for breakfast, skip lunch, eat something light at dinner e.g. 2 slices of wholemeal bread turned into "pizza toast" (add tomato puree and a few slices of pepperoni).

I would eat the odd bit of dark chocolate here or there as I heard its not bad for you and can be healthy in decent amounts.

Some days were better, some worse. I don't have any eating disorders. I was just trying to get in shape for my GCSE results day, and also just to look better. I knew when to stop, and I stopped soon after I started as I knew it wasn't right.

I lost about half a stone and then a bit in a week. Granted a lot would have been water weight, and then the missing mass from my stomach.

I'm not that large, 5ft 9 and 68kg. But my growth is slower than it was not long ago, before the shit eating.

Could this have possible stunted my growth forever? I know the answer is probably a resounding no, but I'd just like to put my mind at ease.

Thank you.

I don't know if it's possible to edit images, but when I say I vomited bile I mean a slight amount of bile ended up coming up with a feeling of nausea.

*edit posts

I wouldn't think so. Particularly if you were carrying a few excess pounds. I take it you are a young man? 5'9" is actually the average height for a man in the uk, so if you stay at that height, you'll be taller than half of all men.

But men can carry on growing until their early 20s, so you may have a littl way to go yet.

I'd have said not. As a girl you would have peaked around 14/15, if my shoe sizing expert is anything to go by! Losing half a stone and Eaton rubbish for that short time I would hazard a guess will make no difference.

Are you worried about not getting any taller?

I seriously doubt a few weeks of unhealthy eating would have any impact on your development (although please take a healthier approach next time you want to lose weight!) More likely that your growth is just naturally slowing down which it is about right for your age.

Some further info here: kidshealth.org/en/parents/growth-13-to-18.html

Eating badly for a short time won't have any effect on your height.

If you are a boy, you've got to the stage when you'll stop growing anyway - 16 is the age when most boys reach their expected adult height. You might grow a little more until 18 but you've done most of your growing already.

If you are a girl, you've probably stopped growing all together - 15 is the time when girls reach their expected height.