Question:
Hi,
I have a question about how tall I’d be when I’m done with puberty. Currently, I’m about 16 years old. I am about 5’6. I think I really started developing around 14 when I began to grow from 5’0 at 14 to 5’3 at 15 to 5’6 at 16. The Tanner Stage Calculator says I’m in tanner stage 4.7 although I started growing only about 2 years ago.
I have lots of hair, but I’ve always been a hairy person due to my genes. I can’t grow a full beard, but I have hair on the sides of my face and jaw and on my chin, and a mustache. I have chest hairs popping up and hair in the middle of my chest, and hairs around my nipples. I began to grow more facial hair last year at around 15 years old. I did not have body hair like I did last year.
My voice has gotten a little bit different. My torso has a line down the middle-ish, and hairs around but not that thick. My shoulders are not too broad and I’m kind of lanky. I have overall changed a lot since 14 years old and 15 years old.
The KGH calculator says I’m going to be 5’7.8 because my sitting height is ~33.5-34 in. My parents are 5’0 and 5’9. I think my height growth has been slowing down and is not as rapid anymore. Is it possible I am really done growing and am almost done with puberty? I did grow a lot during March and April but I’ve slowed down since then. Can I possibly reach past my father’s height which is 5’9? And will I keep growing at the rate I have been the past 2 years or is my height coming to a sudden stop?
Also, I should add that my weight hasn’t been increasing for at least 6 months and I weigh 120 lbs, and my shoe size has been the same, a US 7.5-8 for at least a year.
Answer:
I suspect that at age 14 you reached stage 3 of development. Many guys don’t notice the early changes until they become so great that you can’t ignore them. Between age 14 and 16 you were growing about three inches per year. Given that, you should be in early stage 4.
I’m not certain why the calculator gave you a late stage 4 answer. I suspect that a few of your answers were a bit more advanced than you have actually obtained. Since I don’t know your answers and I can’t see you, I have no way to analyze them.
Since most guys grow 1 to 3 inches during stage 4, it seems highly likely that you will reach 5’8″ by the time you are finished growing. Growth in height doesn’t suddenly stop. It gradually slows down. But growth in height also comes in spurts, so you have to measure growth across spans, such as six months or a year. I doubt you will be taller than your father.