To what age do girls grow: height, height, when they stop

Updated: 06/29/2021 12:21:50

Expert: Lochukov Denis Aleksandrovich

An undeniable fact is that the development and formation of girls as an adult organism begins earlier than that of boys. In addition, the female body is many times more complex than the male one. This is due to the fact that a woman is intended to conceive, bear and give birth to one more, and quite possibly more, new individuals of the human race. To put it simply – children.

How exactly and in what time frame girls develop physically, the rate of growth and the characteristics on which it depends will be discussed in this article.

Growth and development of girls before puberty

The growth of girls, as well as their general physical development until the age of 8 years, occurs almost the same as in boys. The most intensive growth in children is observed in the first year of their life; during this period of time, the toddler will grow from 20 to 25 cm! Such a significant increase in height will never happen again.

In the second year, growth will increase by 8-12 cm, the third year will bring no more than 10. After the first three years of growth, the annual growth rate will be 4 cm or more.

At any age and in all children, regardless of gender, growth is always spasmodic and the increase occurs unevenly. According to the observations of most parents, one can notice that in the summer children grow up more than in other seasons. As a rule, the first growth spurt will occur at 4-5 years of age.

One curious fact is known in pediatrics - those parts of the body that are farthest from the head will grow faster. It turns out that a toddler’s foot grows faster than the lower leg, and the lower leg grows correspondingly faster than the thigh. All age-related changes in body proportions in children are associated with this.

Gynecologist and first menstruation

During the first two years, periods may be irregular, but they stabilize gradually. However, it is at this time that the girl should visit the gynecologist for the first time. And this experience should be positive, so that in the future she will not be afraid to visit him when necessary.

A gynecologist should be chosen with special care. It is better to introduce your child to a doctor and ask him to explain that the child will not expect anything painful during the first procedure (and further), only an ultrasound examination of the degree of maturity of the follicles. It is required to determine when to expect your period. Sometimes in adolescence they may not come for six months, and this is completely normal. Or, on the contrary, the follicles are already forming quite normally, as in adults.

Another important point is measuring the thickness of the endometrium. This is done to check for breakthrough bleeding. This happens when the mucous membrane is not rejected in time. There are a lot of nuances here.

Last but not least is the cervical cancer vaccination. Girls do it from the age of 11, and it’s just a miracle! It is not without reason that its creator was awarded the Nobel Prize for the discovery of the drug. Some parents even vaccinate boys against this disease. This is done to completely eradicate the disease, as once happened with the plague.

Growth and other developmental features of girls during puberty

The beginning of this period, regardless of gender, occurs when the child reaches 8 years of age. By this age, the average height of both boys and girls is 126–127 cm, but with the onset of puberty everything changes.

Until recently, she was a small and sweet girl, but now she doesn’t know what to do with her body, which suddenly began to become an adult. And looking at her from the mirror is someone whom she would have easily called “a pimply freak” just recently. At the same time, mood swings during this period are generally gloomy. Just recently, a young lady is soaring with happiness, and within 20 minutes she hates the whole world. This is adolescence - that hormonal storm that every child will have to endure on the way to adulthood.

It will begin, as already mentioned, at the age of 8, during this period the so-called invisible hormonal puberty occurs. And although boys and girls have the same onset time, they produce completely different hormones. In girls, the body accordingly begins to actively produce female sex hormones. During puberty in girls, their level increases 8 times. This in turn causes a sharp growth spurt at about 10 years of age, sometimes growing by 7 to 8 cm per year. During this period, girls begin to seem like clumsy big boys compared to the short boys their peers. Another interesting moment in the girl’s life will begin at the same time and will be associated with the formation of breast tissue. The beginning of this period is related in time to the beginning of puberty in the girl.

An interesting historical fact: in the 19th century, this period occurred between the ages of 15 and 17; until the 60s of the last century, girls grew up at the age of 13–14; in our days, even earlier. A group of scientists from Denmark under the leadership of Alexander Busch, a medical community from the Rigshospitale hospital, studied more than 38 works on this topic from 1977 to 2013 and established a pattern of puberty in girls earlier by 3 months, every 10 years, with some deviations in the average values depending on region of residence. that for most modern girls this period begins at about 9–10 years of age.

Researchers are finding a link between early onset of puberty and subsequent obesity in these girls later in life. Geneticists from Imperial College London partially came to the same conclusions.

Further, regardless of the date of the onset of puberty, everything will follow the standard pattern of development of the female body. Hair appears in places where a woman will have to get rid of it for the rest of her life. The sebaceous glands will work more actively and hello to teenage acne! After about a year, a maximum of one and a half, the first menstruation comes. Changes occur throughout the body, literally everything undergoes restructuring - hormonal levels, reproductive, cardiovascular, nervous system and metabolism. This is certainly a huge stress for the whole organism, to which the girl’s psyche can react very violently. This is what causes those mood swings 100 times a day, plus the constant stress of having to see the changes that are happening to her.

The active influence on growth of teenage factors ends in most girls by the age of 14–15, but they can continue to grow up to 19 years.

At What Age Do You Stop Growing?

The timing of puberty plays a key role in answering the question: “When do girls stop growing in height?” This is because the age at which a girl reaches adult height depends on when she gets her first period.

The initial signs of female puberty, including breast development, body hair growth and discharge, are indicators that your daughter may soon begin to grow in height faster than before. Girls who go through puberty typically experience a growth spurt after their breasts begin to develop, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, followed by their first period two to three years later.

Girls stop growing and reach their final adult height just two to two and a half years after that first menstrual cycle.

What can affect growth

Indicators of weight gain and height in a child depend on three reasons:

Heredity.
Nutrition.
The quality of life.

If the parents are taller than average, then the girl is more likely to be tall. Young ladies in their height often follow the direction of the “female line” of the family and will grow up the same way as their mother, grandmother or aunt.

There is a formula for calculating a person’s growth potential based on genetic data, however, the correction for it depends on the presence or absence of certain conditions and is plus or minus 10 cm. For a girl, this formula looks like this:

Girl's height = sum of parents' height (cm): 2 - 6.4 cm (Dr. J. Hawker's formula).

As for the child’s living conditions and its quality that affect his growth, these include:

favorable living conditions;
frequency of being on walks, nature and generally outside the home and intensity of sunbathing;
attention from parents to the child and activities with him;
sufficient attention to his health.

An important factor for good growth is sleep. It should be discussed in more detail. the fact that children grow in their dreams. The release of growth hormone into the circulatory system occurs at night, when the child sleeps soundly. The bulk of the hormone is produced between 22.00. — 24 00., exclusively in the deep sleep stage. Therefore, for the correct and planned growth of children, it is necessary that at this time they are already asleep, and so soundly that their sleep is already in the deep stage. The duration of sleep is also important; a girl under 12, and sometimes 14 years old, needs ten hours of sleep, and an older girl at least 8.

Adults should closely monitor children's growth development status. Today there is such a congenital disease as somatotropic insufficiency, caused by a lack of growth hormone. From birth, the pituitary gland does not produce enough growth hormone.

At birth, such a child has no deviations in height and weight. Gradually he “loses”, at 2 years he is 7-8 cm short of the norm, at 80-85 cm, at 5 years this lack of growth becomes even greater. As such a child grows up, his growth retardation compared to his peers becomes more and more evident. This may result in the girl’s height at the end of the period being less than 130 cm. If this disease is detected in a timely manner and correctly diagnosed, it is now quite treatable by using artificially synthesized hormones. A course of therapy allows you to catch up with the height of your peers, and then continue to grow on your own. Parents should measure their children and record the results annually. An indicator of the norm will be the result of a child’s growth by 4 or more centimeters after four years, but if this is not the case, you should contact a specialist.

How can you influence a child's growth?

For a child to grow, his body needs amino acids; there are 8 essential amino acids in total, and they are found mainly in food of animal origin. Children's protein diet should consist of 60% dairy products, eggs, fish dishes, meat and poultry, in a word - that very complete protein. At the same time, you should avoid foods that are too fatty from this range, as fat will inhibit the work of growth hormone.

The body receives energy for growth, as for other processes, from carbohydrates
. However, “fast carbohydrates” in the form of sweets, on the contrary, slow down the production of growth hormone. Therefore, the source of carbohydrates for children should be foods rich in fiber and whole grains, such as buckwheat, lentils, millet, pearl barley, etc.
Vitamin D is very important
which in its action covers many areas of the body’s life, and if there is a deficiency in the child’s body, it can lead to the development of rickets.
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Modern products, including fruits and berries, are extremely poor in vitamins for the sake of presentation and the need for long-term storage. Therefore, adults need to take care of the correct selection of high-quality vitamins and minerals for their children.
Elements such as calcium and iodine are also important
. Calcium is responsible for increasing the volume and strength of bone tissue, iodine is included in the composition of thyroid hormones, on which the growth of a child also depends.
A reasonable and thoughtful general daily routine is also extremely important.
. The child should not be overloaded physically and psychologically. Long walks in the fresh air and sufficient sleep are essential components of the normal growth of a child’s body.

If a girl has complexes about her height

A teenager, and especially a girl, can have very strong complexes about their appearance, and height can be one of the reasons.

If a girl develops a complex about the fact that she considers herself too tall, then the task falls on the mother to delicately and tactfully explain to the child that this should not at all be a reason for concern about her appearance. A tall girl was always beautiful and was a passport to the world of models.

It is extremely important to help the girl adequately relate to herself and her external characteristics, and also to learn to live with the idea that it is impossible to slow down or stop growth and there is absolutely no point in doing this.

It is better to switch your preoccupation with your appearance, in the context of growth, to working on establishing beautiful posture and getting rid of stoop. To avoid curvature of the spine.

The article was compiled on the basis of a scientific article: Gribakin S.G. “The importance of sleep for the development of a child” and materials from the work of teachers and educational practice of employees of the Solnyshko Children's Home of the Republic of Kazakhstan domsolnyshko.kz/o-nas/o-detskom-dome/.

Recommendations for parents to overcome the crisis

Despite the difficulties in communicating with parents and the active desire to separate, during a crisis period a teenager needs proper support and protection from adults. At the same time, parents need to give up previous forms of control and give the child the necessary amount of freedom.

Each child is unique, and parents will have to find an approach on their own. But a few simple recommendations will help you understand the teenager and help him overcome the crisis:

Unobtrusively enter the environment . A friendly, calm approach will help overcome misunderstanding and aggression. Participation in life situations and common interests will allow you to unobtrusively help your child solve problems as needed.
Be interested in hobbies . It wouldn’t hurt to share the child’s interests, discuss his hobbies with him, talk about his thoughts and find out his point of view on various issues.
Be patient with emotional changes . A violent reaction should not cause an explosion of emotions in response.
Provide freedom . It is important to provide the child with his own space, and, if possible, a private room. You should restrain your desire to control his actions, hobbies, emotions.

When talking with a teenager, you should also adhere to a number of rules :

Avoid notations. Even small children do not like moralizing, and in a teenager they will only cause protest and aggression. Within a few minutes his attention will switch to something else.
Don't blame, don't criticize. Any comments must be made in an environmentally friendly manner, without accusations, moralizing or imposition.
Discuss casually. Teenagers are not always ready for serious conversations face to face. Increased attention to the child’s problems will make him think that his independence is being doubted. But careful conversation during joint activities will bring results.
Don't raise your tone. Calm conversations are more effective than shouting and scandals.
Praise. Due to their insecurity, teenagers really need praise and approval.
Communicate with your child via instant messengers and social networks. Children spend a lot of time on smartphones and tablets. Correspondence in instant messengers is familiar to them. Communication in such an environment will allow conversations to take place in a direction that is comfortable for the child.

Even correct behavior on the part of parents does not exclude the possibility of conflict, aggression and disobedience in a teenager. However, a respectful attitude towards the individual and the appropriate manner of communication between adults can reduce the severity of crisis signs and their intensity.