The 15-year-old boy's height is fixed at 1.53 meters! The doctor reveals the "mystery": the key to a child's growth depends on these factors

Audit expert: Shen Yingjian

Director of the Nutrition Department of Hebei Yanda Hospital

Recently, the topic of "15-year-old boy's final height of 1.53 meters" has attracted people's attention. The topic of height has always been the focus of adolescent children and parents.

Source | Weibo screenshot

The average height of Chinese people is increasing year by year, which means that the national nutrition level has improved, the quality of life has improved, and our country has become more and more perfect in various aspects such as medical care and health. But we occasionally see that children in adolescence stop growing in height. Why does this happen, and how can we avoid it?

Does the closure of the epiphyseal line mean that the human body will no longer grow?

During the development of the human skeleton, the ossification points in the cartilage at both ends of the bones are called epiphyses . When the human skeleton is not yet mature, some bones are still in the state of cartilage. When the body is fully developed, this part of the cartilage will be completely ossified and become a tight seam. Generally, between the ages of 16 and 20, the human body will be fully grown, the epiphyseal line will close, and the height will be fixed. Of course, it will also vary due to individual differences.

The development of the whole body can be seen from the development of bones, and the development of bones is closely related to the morphology of the epiphysis. The epiphysis has four growth stages: the germination stage, the proliferation stage, the shaping stage, and the closure stage . The development of the epiphysis is affected by many factors, but the growth stage will not be advanced due to the development of bones. Therefore, it is possible to judge whether the bone is still growing from the growth period of the epiphysis.

Schematic diagram of epiphyseal closure process Source | Baidu Encyclopedia

Table of the appearance and closure trend of epiphysis in males and females aged 3-18.99 years Source | Gao Yan, "X-ray Study of Calcaneus Epiphysis Development"

The above figure shows the trend of the appearance and closure of the epiphyseal line during the growth of boys and girls. It can be seen that the 3 to 11 years old is the period when the epiphyseal line appears for boys and girls, which is also the critical period for children's physical growth. The epiphyseal line of girls gradually closes between the ages of 11 and 16, while the epiphyseal line of boys gradually begins to close between the ages of 12 and 18.

How to judge whether a child can still grow taller? Currently, a more scientific method is to use X-rays of the hands to observe whether the epiphyseal closure has occurred. If the epiphyseal closure, that is, the bone closure, occurs during the growth and development of a child, the height will stop growing. If the epiphyseal closure trend is found to be premature, timely intervention can be made.

What factors affect a person's height?

There are many factors that affect a child's height. From a biological perspective, there are two main reasons for the influence. One is genetic factors , that is, the genetic inheritance of parents, which is the main factor that determines a person's final height. The other is environmental factors, that is, the acquired growth environment , which is a secondary factor in determining a child's height.

We cannot currently change our genetic genes in objective life, but we can prevent and intervene artificially the factors in the acquired growth environment in advance. So what are the acquired factors?

The calcium and phosphorus content in the body will affect a person's height development. Under normal circumstances, bones are constantly undergoing metabolism, including the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus. The calcium and phosphorus content in human blood and body fluids is very low, mainly existing in bones, which has important physiological functions.

Source: Baidu Encyclopedia

Secondly, it is affected by the level of vitamins in the body. As we all know, although vitamins are present in low levels in the body, they play a vital role. When vitamin A is lacking, the deformation rate of chondrocytes in the epiphyseal plate slows down, thus affecting growth. When vitamin C is lacking, it will affect the normal development of the intercellular matrix of bones and other connective tissues. In addition, the secretion of related substances such as vitamin D and bile will also affect the growth of human bones to varying degrees.

The influence of endocrine on bone growth, such as sex hormones, parathyroid hormone, adrenal cortex hormone, alkaline phosphatase, etc., also have a certain influence on bone growth

In addition, exercise is also part of a healthy lifestyle. If the human body does not exercise during growth, the growth of the joints will not follow a direction suitable for human movement. For example, the bones of the load-bearing joint surface are thicker, and different bones are arranged in different directions due to different external stresses. If the external stress is not borne at the appropriate time, the corresponding bones of the human body may not be tight enough, resulting in osteoporosis and other phenomena, and may also cause changes in the morphology of the joint bones. Therefore, moderate exercise is also very necessary.

Source: pixabay

If a child is too tall or too short during his growth period, parents need to pay extra attention

One reason why a child is too tall may be that the parents themselves are tall, and another factor may be excessive secretion of growth hormone. Growth hormone has the function of promoting bone growth, and when it is secreted excessively, gigantism may occur.

If a child is too short, it may be due to genetic factors. It may also be because he or she did not receive enough nutrition during the growth and development process, resulting in physical retardation. It may also be due to uneven secretion of related growth hormones in the body, which ultimately leads to unsatisfactory height.

Source: pixabay

The decisive factor in the boy's final height in the news is genetic genes. The parents are of short height, and they did not discover the genetic problems and environmental factors affecting the child's height in time when the boy was young. For example, whether the child's nutritional intake was sufficient during the bone growth and development period, whether the protein intake met the standards, whether the bones received reasonable exercise, etc., and no relevant treatment was carried out.

Of course, the growth process of most people is normal. As long as they absorb enough nutrients during the development process, there is no need to pay too much attention to their height. If there is abnormal height development, such as a child in puberty who has not changed his height within six months, you can go to the hospital for relevant examinations early, detect and treat early, and follow the doctor's advice for artificial intervention.