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Is Height Of Children Related To Parents Height?

Posted on Mon, 2 Dec 2013

Question: My twin sons will be 6 Dec 26th and are both about 40 inches right now. My husband and I are both very short in stature (5'0" and 5'3", respectively). My boys have always been below the 3rd percentile in height. They have also been to the endocrinologist (about 2 years ago) and hormone levels were normal but bone age was about 1 year behind. They have been growing normally so far but I believe this past year they grew less than 2 inches. Is this cause for concern? Do they need to be continually tested for hormone deficiencies?

Answered by Dr. Venkata Subrahmanaym Mukkavilli (44 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Not necessarily they will be short in height. Detailed Answer: Hi, Thank you for asking question on health care magic. Both parents are short does not predict that their offspring will be short. The children usually inherit the characters of their grand parents. This has been proved by the experiments of Mendel on pea plants. The expected height of children when they become adults is calculated by Mid parenteral height, Mid parenteral height is calculated by height of mother+height of father divided by 2 and adding 6.5 cms in case of male children. By this calculation your children's ultimate expected height will be 150+157.5/2+ 6.5= 160.25 cms i.e., 5'7" approximately. Another method of calculation is doubling their height at two and a half years of age. If you have a record of their heights at two and half years of age you can know their expected height when they grow as adults. All children do not grow equally. Some biological variation will be there. If they achieve more than 90% of the expected height for that particular age it is taken as normal. Better observe their growth continuously and record. If the growth velocity is grossly abnormal you consult an endocrinologist and go for hormonal studies. Hope this answer will serve your purpose Please feel free to ask any more queries if required Take care Dr.M.V.Subrahmanyam MD;DCH Associate professor of pediatrics

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E

Follow up: Dr. Venkata Subrahmanaym Mukkavilli (1 hour later)

Thank you for your answer. They have been to an endocrinologist but it was a couple of years ago and all hormone levels were normal. Could this change? Could their hormone levels suddenly become abnormal? I ask because they grew less than 2 inches in 1 year. This is concerning. I thought children were supposed to grow 2 - 2.5 inches every year until puberty. Also, have you ever heard of GABA and its effects on stimulating HGH in humans? Could the administration of GABA help stimulate their growth?

Answered by Dr. Venkata Subrahmanaym Mukkavilli (20 minutes later)

Brief Answer: Your questions need endocrinologists opinon. Detailed Answer: Hi, Thank you for asking follow up question on health care magic. There are so many factors like genetic,hereditary,environmental and nutritional as well as hormonal factors as the growth is concerned.Always some biological factors cause variation in the rate of growth. your other questions need endocrinologist's consultation to get clear insight in to the matter. Hope this answer will serve your purpose Please feel free to ask any more queries if required Take care Dr.M.V.Subrahmanyam MD;DCH Associate professor of pediatrics

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E